Balance
by Barbara Morehouse
Summary: A visitor from the past arrives on scene as Sam and Dean are becoming more embroiled in the Yellow-Eyed Demons plans. As she gets more and more involved, she realizes she, too, is a part of the big picture for a demonic world. DeanxOC SamxSarah
1. Chapter 1

**Balance**

_**by**_

_**Barbara Ann Morehouse**_

**Disclaimer**

**I own nothing in this story, including the characters Dean, Sam, and Bobby, and of course the beloved Impala. All rights are reserved by their respective owners. **

**The only characters I claim in this story as my own are Alyssa and her 1968 Camaro.**

**Chapter One**

The bus ride seemed to have gone on forever. The miles passed by agonizingly slow, and the suffering wasn't just from the distances she had traveled: the gasping for a breath that just wouldn't come, the stares from the other passengers, and her constantly drawing the images that came to her almost made this journey impossible. Almost, but she had no choice but to endure the torment until she made her way off the bus far from the next designated stop, to the relief of the driver and passengers, happy to have nothing more to do with the weirdo in the back.

It was the same car, a black, four-door 1967 Chevy Impala. She would know this car anywhere, for she relived the memories of it each night as she slept, and she knew the owner, as well. He was in this rundown motel somewhere.

There were only two possibilities, door number one or door number two. One of the cardinal rules of being a hunter was to park your car as close to you as possible. It was never known when a quick getaway could mean the difference between life and death or imprisonment and liberty.

She quieted her memories and did her best to wade through the mud in her mind and body, letting her metaphysical energy trickle out, and 'feel' her way to the prize, allowing her to be pulled by the power within in the direction she needed to go. Her gifts had never steered her wrong, and she knew this time would be no different.

'I'll take door number one, Monty.'

She stood at the pale yellow door, her weathered brown leather bag seeming to become a burden as it hung across her body. She patiently waited for an answer to her knocking, the knuckles of her right hand reddening from her persistence. Her long brown hair was blown in her face by the spring breezes, but she paid it no mind. She didn't have the strength to care about or the energy to move the strands tickling her nose and bombarding her vision.

She felt the air around her, bearing down on her shoulders, trying to crush her. Behind this door was the source of that weight. Behind this door she would finally come face to face with something. What it might be, she could only imagine, but in a way, she already knew.

Again there was no answer. Despite the growing pain in her hand, she pounded her knuckles against the cheap wood once again.

"Go away!" The response was curt, meaning someone was home. He didn't sound happy, but she didn't give a damn.

'Open the door before it's too late,' she thought.

Summoning her courage to face what lie behind the door, she found her voice.

"Please, open the door," she demanded, not too harsh, but enough to let him know she wasn't leaving. She could feel something growing stronger, thickening the air, and making breathing a daunting task.

'Just open the damned door,' she willed to him as she grabbed a hold of the doorjamb to steady herself against the sudden change of the air surrounding her. It was as if someone or something didn't want her to be here.

'_This could be more than you can handle_.'

'I know, but I have to try,' she thought back to her own mind.

The doorknob turned slowly as the hand that held it took every effort to keep quiet. As the door opened just enough she raised her eyes to look into the darkened depths of the barrel of a gun.

"Who are you and what do you want?" There was no face to the voice, at least not yet.

She heard the click of the revolver's hammer being drawn back.

'No hello? No where have you been? No how are you?' She held her tongue aware that this was not the time for snide remarks. She needed to get in that room, and quickly.

"I can help him." This wasn't the first time she'd seen the business end of a gun, so she remained completely unnerved. The fear she should have felt with a weapon pointed directly in her face was no match for the years of training and living through the hell of her life.

"Don't need your help." The voice waved the gun as if to dismiss her. "Now leave."

'I really don't have time for this', he thought to the woman standing at the door. His brother was in pain, and some chick shows up on his doorstep wanting to come inside.

Under normal circumstances, he'd have jumped at the chance to invite a pretty young woman into his room, but today was far from normal.

The gun was a minor distraction. She could hear the painful moans of a man in the back of the room somewhere. She took another deep breath, trying to find the oxygen left in the air coming from the room.

"I can help him, Dean, but you have to let me in." And hurry, she thought.

"Who the hell are you? Who the hell is this Dean?" The gun never wavered.

This was taking too long. Her mind was racing with multiple possible responses. Should she play the weak, helpless girl, begging to do anything for him if he just let her in, or would the hurt, heartbroken bitch that could easily shove the door back in his face, come off better?

'Screw it, no time for games.' She turned her head to the left, pulled back her windblown hair, and exposed the three long scars that trailed down the right side of her neck.

"Now can I come in?" She asked the voice behind the gun, knowing she could very well be starting her own war of words, and possibly weapons.

"Holy crap. Alyssa?" he responded in an audible whisper. The gun lowered and the door swung open.

The sight of who stood on the other side caught her off guard. She became momentarily lost in time, remembering when she last saw his green eyes.

'_Focus_,' the voice cautioned her.

'I'm trying,' she answered.

"Hi, Dean." She cautiously stepped across the threshold, never taking her eyes off of him.

Dean was staring at the face he hadn't thought of in over a decade. She had just left him without a word, no goodbye, no screw off, nothing. She could have died years ago, and he never would have known.

But here she was, standing before him, in the middle of nowhere, as if time had never passed them by. Her hair was just as long as it had been in the past, her brown eyes were more haunted now, but the way she looked at him, as if she could see right into the very depths of his soul, hadn't changed at all. He wasn't sure of what to say to her, so saying nothing he moved out of the way to let her in the motel room.

He caught the scent of her hair on the breeze that blew through the door behind her. She had used the same shampoo for years, and it brought the memories of another lifetime flooding into his mind. He briefly lost himself to the past, remembering their shared moments, but Sam's agonizing groans brought him back to the present and her purpose for being here, followed by a deluge of other thoughts and emotions he hadn't expected.

She stepped further into the motel room, tearing her eyes from his, pushing her way through the heaviness that threatened to steal the breath from her lungs. The yellowed curtains, stained from decades of cigarette smoke and time, were pulled shut, trying desperately to eliminate the brightness of the dying day. The small table and two chairs placed in front of the window were covered with empty beer bottles, crushed Styrofoam coffee cups, and old pizza boxes.

She stepped to the side of the bed nearest the window, where Sam laid grasping his head and writhing in pain. The tan colored blankets were crumpled under his body.

'Damn! He grew up fine, just like his brother,' she thought to herself.

'_Back to business.'_

'Yeah, yeah, you're no fun,' she responded to her own thoughts.

She removed her black jean jacket and threw it and her leather bag on one of the chairs. As she slowly approached him, she called to him, softly at first. He needed to hear her before he could see her and find his way back through the fog of pain to her voice.

Dean was standing on the other side of the bed, gun still in hand watching the scene play out before him. He wasn't sure what she was doing here, but he wasn't letting her out of his sight.

This sudden appearance was too convenient, too weird. Her showing up here after all this time, but he couldn't wrap his mind around that just now. Sam needed him more than he needed to dwell on her. The visions were getting stronger, and the pain seemed to be killing his brother.

Dean listened to Alyssa as she called Sam's name. His skin tingled with goose bumps as she spoke. Her voice was gentle, musical, and somewhat hypnotic. It was as if she was trying to sing him to sleep.

"Sam, can you hear me? I'm right here," she kept her voice low. "You have to come to my voice, Sam." She sat on the bed next to him.

Sam was grasping at his hair as if he were trying to rip it from his head. The pain was getting worse with every vision. His skull felt like it would split open with him still alive and aware of everything, spilling his blood and brain matter everywhere.

He could hear her, but couldn't see her, couldn't find her. Whoever it was, wanted him to follow her voice. Sam tried to do as he was asked, but just opening his eyes sent a tsunami of agony raging across his head.

Alyssa gently touched his hands with hers, working her fingers in between his, all the while speaking softly to him.

Dean watched closely as she caressed Sam's hands, wrists, and arms. And ever so slowly, Sam began to relax. His groans subsided as he released the death grip on his hair. His eyes became clear and focused again.

"I know you." Sam looked into her brown eyes. He could see now, and the pain wasn't so bad.

She smiled and said, "Yes, you do."

The air had changed; it was easier to breathe, but not by much. She had gotten through to him, and that was a huge step in the right direction. He could focus with her keeping the pain at bay, which would make the next step a little easier.

She wanted to see what he was being shown, so she took his hands in hers. They were rough in comparison, but his touch was gentle and caring.

"Sam, you have to let me in. I have to see what you're seeing. I need to know what is to come."

"How do I do that? I don't know how to let you see." Enduring the pain was one thing. Living with the knowledge of impending doom was another. This woman wanted to see what he saw. How could she want the images burned into her mind? And how was he supposed to do what she asked?

"You only have to open yourself to me and let me step into your mind. It's kind of letting me into your house through the front door. Just relax, let the feelings take you, and let me come along. I'll do most of the work for us, okay?" She had to keep calm, keep reassuring him that things would be fine. Although, in her own mind, she wasn't sure what she was doing. Alyssa was following her instincts, and as always, she knew what had to be done and just how to do it.

Alarms were going off in Dean's mind. He didn't like the idea of anyone getting into his head, especially after the run-in with the Obi-wan twins. He started to verbalize his own reservations, but he stopped himself. He could see Sam wasn't hurting as much, and he was talking. That was a good thing, right? But how did she do it? He didn't remember her having any abilities like this? His thoughts again took him around and around through the past. Where the hell has she been? Why is she here now? How did she find me? Emotions he thought he had buried deep enough to never surface again had broken the carefully built dam and were rising in a torrent.

Sam wasn't sure he was ready for this, but he didn't seem to have a choice in the matter. He relaxed everything, his mind, his body, just as she had said to do. He felt that tug on his mind again. He waited for the same blinding pain that always announced the arrival of the visions, but it wasn't there.

He couldn't feel her hands in his anymore, and her face blurred behind the wall of light. Images of bodies, thousands of men, women, and children, broken and bleeding, fires engulfing entire cities and landscapes, the agonizing screams of the dying, and a flash of Sam's face with eyes of flames were all the vision revealed, and then it was gone. They were still in the motel room, but they were breathing as if they had been running for their lives.

Sam's grip on her hands relaxed as the vision ended, but she kept a hold of him as if she would drown. It was over, but she couldn't let go just yet.

Alyssa leaned over and whispered something in his ear, releasing his hands at last. He nodded, rolled over, and promptly fell asleep as if nothing had happened.

She left Sam on the bed and ran past Dean into the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind her as she got a bird's eye view of her previous meal.

Dean could only listen to the sounds of her vomiting. He felt out of place, helpless, and in the dark about everything that had just occurred. He didn't like being left out of the loop.

'Time to remedy that,' he thought. He checked the safety on the gun. It was off.

Alyssa took her time cleaning herself up knowing she was going to have to face Dean when she opened the door. The images in the vision were disturbing, but that's not what had sent her to the restroom. She still couldn't stomach the smell of sulfur, no matter how many times she had been immersed in it.

Alyssa stared at herself in the mirror. Her brown eyes seemed to have darkened, or it could just be the light? She awaited the inevitable question.

'_Are you ready for this?_'

'Like I have a choice. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to chase them down.'

'_But is this how you want this to start?'_

'No time like the present to deal with the past, right?'

Taking a few moments to steady her breathing, she opened the bathroom door. The look on Dean's face spoke volumes. His eyes were hard and seemed full of anger, and maybe hatred, yet she could detect just a hint of what seemed to be concern just on the edges of his eyes. Or maybe she was just hoping to see it there.

She quietly motioned for him to follow her outside. The air was clear allowing her to breathe again.

Dean wasn't sure what to think about what he had just witnessed. His mind was still reeling with the how's and why's of her being here. He followed Alyssa outside to where she was standing next to the Impala intent on getting some answers whether she liked it or not.

The setting sun was beginning to paint the wispy clouds with yellows, oranges, and reds, a sky of fire. Almost poetic, she thought.

Noticing the few people milling about the parking lot, Dean thought it best to place the gun behind his back tucked into his pants. There was no need to draw any unneeded attention to themselves just yet.

"Sam will be fine for a while. At least until another vision hits him," she was rubbing her temples. Her eyes were throbbing from the migraine sitting in her skull. She leaned against the fender of the Impala for support.

"What happened in there? What did you do to Sam? What's happening to him?" Dean was shooting off the questions one after another, staring at her as if she weren't real.

'She just couldn't be standing here,' he thought to himself.

"Which one do you want me to answer first?" The world was beginning to spin. She had just emptied herself of any nutrition and energy she could have used to regain her ground enough to handle the emotional tirade standing before her.

"I don't care. Just answer them, Alyssa." He was nervous. He was never nervous around a woman, but this one had his gut in a twist, and more than anything Dean hated to feel as though he weren't in control of himself or the situation around him.

"In spite of the fact that I just paid homage to the Porcelain God, I need to eat. Sam took a lot out of me, and I need to recharge with some food." She pointed toward the restaurant that sat at the end of the motel parking lot. "My treat." She knew he'd never refuse a free meal.

They walked in an uncomfortable silence to the small restaurant, neither of them sure of what to say next. Dean asked for a booth at the back, nearest the exit. It kept them far from the other customers and gave them a quick escape route, if needed. They ordered burgers, fries, and beer from the portly waitress and waited until she left to continue the conversation.

Dean sat back on his side of the booth, waiting for the answers to come.

"So, where do you want me to start?" The throbbing sensation was still there, but it was becoming more bearable. She could at least focus on his face, and again, his eyes caught her sending her heart into her throat.

"How about telling me what the hell happened to my brother in there?" There were other questions in the back of his mind, but his concern for his brother's life was superseding all else.

It took only a few seconds, which to her felt like minutes, to drag her thoughts from the past back to the present and swallow the lump in her throat enough to engage in the conversation. "Does that happen to him often? The visions crippling him like that?"

"They've been getting worse. What do you know about them? What did you see? What did he see?" Dean wasn't letting her off that easy. He wanted to know what happened in the vision, who was involved, and where do they go. The other questions could wait.

"Again with the barrage of questions. I saw dead people," her eyes widen with the movie quip, but seeing he wasn't in the mood, she continued. "A lot of dead people, towns and cities on fire," she closed her eyes willing her stomach to settle again, "and screams of the dying."

"Did you see anything in particular, like a city name or something, or was it just in general?" Dean wasn't sure where this was going.

"I couldn't make out any particular places, people, or anything like that. But…"

"But what?" Dean didn't like this particular vision, as it provided no destination, no one to help. What the hell was it all about?

The waitress had returned with their food and drinks. Alyssa knew their talk wasn't over, but she needed to eat to regain the energy she had spent working with Sam.

Dean was becoming irritated. He wanted to know what the vision could mean, if she knew. "What aren't you telling me, Alyssa?" As far as he was concerned she wasn't in the best of places to be keeping secrets from him.

"The end of the vision was…strange," it was the best word she could come up with. "Sam was in the vision, like he was looking at us, but it was like it wasn't him. His face was different. He looked evil, and his eyes were fire." Alyssa took a swig of her beer.

Dean stopped himself from taking a bite of his burger. This was new.

"What do you mean his eyes were fire? Like yellow eyes?" Was this the warning Dad wanted him to look out for? Did this mean he would have to kill Sam, the only family he had left? Dad's parting words echoed through his mind as he waited for Alyssa's answer.

"I know the bastard you're thinking about. No, not like his. But fire. Real fire burning in his eyes." She talked through her fries. She was famished so her table manners left something to be desired.

It was a relief, almost, to hear Sam wasn't…what? He stopped the train of thought with more food.

Dean ate his burger, trying to catch up to Alyssa. She had almost finished her meal in the time they'd been talking. "What do you think it means?"

"Not sure. Don't know if it means anything. It didn't feel like it was finished though."

Dean had never had a vision, but he'd seen Sam suffer through quite a few of them, and they always sent Sam to his knees in agony, but he never talked about how they felt. There was the vision that led them home, and Sam had been right about it not being finished until it was actually finished.

'Maybe that's what she's talking about,' Dean thought. He'd have to get more information from Sam when he woke up. Maybe he would know. Without more answers, Dean could only speculate as to his brother's future.

"How did you do that with Sam? How long have you had these…powers?" Dean wasn't sure if he wanted the answer to the last question.

"I know about the demon's "chosen children". If you're wondering if I'm one of them the answer is no. You know what I could do before. It's just advanced a bit since then, with a lot of practice."

She took another bite of her burger. "And for the past year and a half or so, I've been searching for anyone who's tied to that yellow-eyed bastard."

"What do you want with the demon, Alyssa? What's your stake in this fight?" He looked at her hard, expecting her to tell him everything.

She looked down at her empty plate, unable to face him. "Don't worry about it. Just take comfort in knowing that if I have the opportunity to take that jackass down, it'll get done." She wiped her face and finished off her beer.

Not wanting to seem as if he was just ignoring the issue, he continued on another line of thought. "So you learned how to get into other people's minds and, what? Turn off pain? Sam was having a vision and it wasn't killing him. Is that what you learned to do?" Dean was sifting through his memories trying to dig up what he could of what she was able to do back then.

While going over his memories, his mind was also racing with questions, but the most prominent query was how the hell did she know about the demon? He was going to have to keep a closer eye on her than he originally had planned, which meant she would have to stick around, something he wasn't too comfortable with at all.

"I learned quite a few things, Dean. But this isn't the time or place for that." She was getting a little nervous with all the people coming into the restaurant. It was dinnertime for the locals, and the place was getting a bit too crowded for her.

'_What's the matter?'_

'I don't know. I just can't be in here anymore.'

"C'mon." She paid the check, left a tip for the waitress and walked out of the restaurant heading back to the motel room. Once outside, she continued.

"I'm a dream walker," she kept the pace back to the room relaxed giving him time to soak in what she was telling him.

"You mean like in that movie, Dreamscape?" Dean seemed proud of himself for making the connection.

"Yeah, like that. But I'm not interested in destroying the world."

Dean was impressed that she had seen the movie. Sam was a buzz-kill when it came to old movies. "But how did you get into Sam's head without either of you being asleep? And don't you have to use some kind of root for that?"

"I've used the root before, but it kept me from being able to control a lot of the dream, kind of like a drug keeps you from thinking properly. So I spent a few years learning how to do it without herbal assistance. That way I stay in complete control of myself. And besides, I couldn't quite get past the whole drinking someone's body fluids thing." She shuddered a bit with the memories, and then continued. "A vision is a waking dream, so I can step into it and watch what's happening. I can't affect anything in a vision because the person is still conscious so they're not controlling anything in it."

"So how does it work in dreams?"

"A dream is different. The subconscious takes over, leaving doors open, ways in, and I found the way to get into those dreams. People can influence the outcomes of their dreams, or they can look to their dreams for answers. I can step in and observe, or if needed, sort of suggest things." Alyssa never told anyone outside of her mentors about her abilities. This wasn't easy for her, but she wasn't going to start off this already tense reunion with lies.

"So you can be in another person's dream and talk to them? You can do whatever you want in their dreams?" He really didn't like the idea of someone who can get into his mind, let alone into his dreams.

"Well, yes, but I'd rather not get too involved in the dreams. It can be somewhat dangerous to interact with people while they're in the midst of some subconscious contemplation."

"What can happen? You know if you get too involved?" Dean asked, keeping his real thoughts to himself. He was beginning to wonder if Alyssa could be as big a threat as any other supernatural being they'd come up against in the past.

"It can get ugly. Really ugly," Alyssa replied.

They had reached the motel room door. Dean stepped past her to unlock it giving her the chance to look at him, really look at him. Again, she lost herself in the memories of long ago: his face, his lips on hers, his arms around her, his body next to hers.

'_Stop living in the past._'

'Party pooper,' she told the voice. 'Besides, aren't you the one telling me to deal with the past?'

'_Deal with it. Don't dwell in it.'_

Dean could feel the heat of her gaze on the back of his neck. He knew what she was thinking about, but he did he best to not let himself get dragged into the past. One night, a long time ago, a lifetime ago. To him, those memories were dead and buried, and he wanted them to stay buried.

He unlocked the door to the motel room and stepped inside, looking to where they had left Sam, but the bed was empty. Dean's heart seemed to stop and a moment of panic rose up to swallow him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Sam emerged from the bathroom, showered, dressed, and putting on his jacket. He looked completely rested, as if he had slept for weeks.

Dean's internal sigh of relief at seeing his brother still there and safe could almost be heard in the small motel room.

'What the hell?' Dean thought. 'We weren't gone that long.'

"Hey, I was just going out to look for you. Did you eat yet? I'm starved." Sam looked past Dean to see a woman stepping into the room. He knew her, but he couldn't remember from where. "I know you, don't I?" Sam pointed at her.

"Yeah, Sam. It's me, Alyssa." And for the second time today she moved her hair to uncover the scars on her neck. "Remember?"

"Wow. It's been a long time. A very long time." Sam wasn't sure if he should shake her hand or give her a hug, so he opted for the latter, because she seriously looked like she could use one.

Wrapped in his arms, Alyssa felt safe. She hadn't had contact like this with anyone for years. She just couldn't bring herself to get close to people anymore, but this felt so good. She didn't want to let go. She wanted to just fall away, let her fears and worries go, and let his arms hold her up while she broke down. But she couldn't. Not now, maybe, not ever.

"Thanks, Sam." She reluctantly stepped away from Sam's comforting embrace. "It's good to see that you grew tall and strong. You were a pretty bony teen last I saw."

"Well, isn't this just a nice little reunion?" Dean couldn't contain himself anymore. There were a lot of questions he wanted answered, and Alyssa bringing up the past brought it all to the forefront.

"Is there something wrong Dean?" Alyssa knew a challenge was in the air, and she never backed down from one, ever.

'I know where this is going,' she thought, 'and I'm ready now.'

'_Are you sure?_'

'And I would appreciate it if you'd not join in,' she warned the voice.

"You just show up out of the blue, at our motel door. No one knows where we are, but you find us as if I gave you the damned address. How the hell did you find us, and why now? After all these years, why did you show up now?" Dean was riding the waves of anger like a surfer, but he wasn't sure why. He stopped caring about her years ago.

"I heard about your father, Dean. And I'm sorry," she tried to keep control of herself and not let her own anger feed into his.

"What does my dad have to do with you being here?" Dean responded.

"Dean, back off." Sam came to her rescue. She had helped him through the torment of a vision. How she did it, he wasn't sure, but her being here at this moment was significant somehow.

"No, Sam. I won't back off. She just shows up out of nowhere. She knew something was wrong with you before I even opened the door. And to boot, she's been gone for ten years. You could have been dead for all we knew."

"If I had died, don't you think Bobby would have heard and passed it on to you?"

"That's not the point, Alyssa." Dean spoke harshly.

"Dean, I didn't know you cared that much." Alyssa cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. She was hoping to deflect some of the anger flashing her way.

"Yeah…well…I don't," he stammered, trying to convince himself he didn't care. He was positive he didn't care about her anymore.

"Alyssa," Sam was hoping to rescue both of them from themselves, "we were really worried for a while. We didn't know where you had gone or why."

"I didn't go anywhere, voluntarily. Do you remember the last time you were at Bobby's with your dad? The day Bobby pulled a shotgun on him?"

"Not much. I remember Dad told us to stay in the car. He went in Bobby's house and came back out a few minutes later with Bobby chasing him off cocked and loaded."

"What about you, Dean? What do you remember about that day?" Alyssa waited for him to think back and answer.

"Dad was pissed about something. He told us to pack up and get in the car. He never said a word the whole ride to Bobby's. It was pretty much what Sam remembers."

"I was in the house when your dad showed up with you two in the car." She left out her own thoughts about all those years ago: that Dean had stayed in the car because he no longer wanted to see her. "Your dad stormed in and threatened to kill me if I didn't leave town."

"Dad wouldn't have done that." Dean protested. "He had no reason to."

Those last words stung her. She had hoped, albeit a small bit of hope, that John Winchester had come at her because she was important to his son, someone who could pull him away from the family taking him out on his own. Now she knew she had been wrong. Dean had never said a word to stand up for her with his father. She had meant nothing to him.

"Dean, listen to her. And why is it such a stretch to believe he would? After all, he's done a lot worse."

Dean let that go, because Sam was right. Dad had done a lot worse to his sons, like dying and leaving them to fight this battle on their own.

"So you just left. You just took what he said and hauled ass. That doesn't sound like you." Dean continued his questioning.

She recovered from the fresh sliver shoved into her patchwork broken heart quickly, not wanting him to see how much damaged he'd inflicted with so few words. "No, it usually wouldn't have been my first reaction. But having a gun between your eyes can be very persuasive. Like father, like son." She eyeballed Dean to make sure he got the point.

"I guess now we know the whole story between Dad and Bobby's last meeting." Sam huffed.

"Still doesn't explain how you found us here and now." Dean didn't want to believe his father would do something to hurt him or the woman he had cared so much for so long ago.

He had been nothing but loyal to his father, listening to every order, following every instruction, being the perfect soldier, so there must have been a good reason for him forcing her to leave. Or maybe he was just hoping there had been a good reason, so his father didn't look too much like the jackass he was beginning to see?

"I was on my way south, hoping to catch some info on where you two were. I felt the same thing I've felt a few times before, and knew I had to get off the bus. I didn't know it was you until I saw the car outside. All I knew was I couldn't leave without finding out what the hell it was all about." Alyssa didn't want to give up too much more. Her past was her past, and she wanted to keep it that way.

"What "it" are you talking about? And how long have you know about it?" Sam's gut instincts were telling him the "it" she was talking about had something to do with him.

"I don't know exactly, but it feels as though there's no oxygen in the air. I don't know what it means or how I can feel it, but I do know it has something to do with the Yellow-Eyed Demon. And I've been following that same feeling for about a year and a half."

This information wasn't new, but it still made Sam sick to his stomach. Did she know his visions were somehow linked to the demon?

"This is all great insight, but I want to know how you were tracking us down?" Dean's own fears about Sam's visions were becoming realized, but a more pressing issue was if they were leaving behind clues that anyone could follow. They still had the Feds and other hunters still seeking revenge for one of their own hot on their tails.

Sam wanted more than anything to continue the conversation but for some strange reason he was starving. He'd eaten earlier today, but his stomach was rumbling as if he hadn't consumed any food for two or three days.

He cleared his throat, "I'm going to head out and get some food. Are you two going to be okay while I'm gone?" The tension in the room resembled an electrical storm brewing in the skies above, ready to burst open, unleashing its unforgiving power upon the innocent earth below.

"I'm fine, Sam. You go and eat," Alyssa was the first to speak up. She knew he needed to refuel his body after their little trip to Vision Land.

"Dean?" Sam looked to his brother, but Dean's eyes were trained on Alyssa, and if looks could really kill, Alyssa would have been staked to the wall behind her. "Dean?" he repeated.

"What?" Dean growled. He couldn't get a grasp on his emotions. It wasn't like him to lose control like this, and it really pissed him off. In this line of work, he had to keep complete control, but right now, he didn't seem to be able to rein himself in.

"Dean," Sam spoke a little harder this time, finally drawing his brother's attention his way, "are you going to be okay? Or do I need to stay and referee this match?"

"I'm fine, Sam."

But Sam was not convinced. "Seriously, Dean, I need to get some food in me. Can I leave you two alone and know I won't come back to some bloody mess?"

"Yeah, yeah. Go eat. I promise I won't hurt her." Dean's voice was strained, but he was slowly regaining ground on the fury boiling just below the surface.

"Mercy has been granted," Alyssa rolled her eyes.

'_Mind your tongue. He's at least willing to try.'_

'He thinks he can take me in a fight,' Alyssa thought back.

'_Maybe he can. It has been a very long time.'_

'Whose side are you on, anyway?'

There was no reply.

"We'll be fine, Sam." Alyssa dismissed him with a small wave of her hand

"Fine." Sam left the motel room, quietly closing the door so as not to disturb the tentative peace treaty between the two warriors he was leaving behind.

Dean's muscles were straining against the urge to throw something, anything. Thoughts tumbled through his mind. Who does she think she is? What do I care if she's been gone, or why? How did she find us?

"Well, I guess we need to finish this, right?"

"So, finish it. How have you been tracking us?"

"Mostly by word of mouth. I'd hear about you and Sam from other hunters, or people you've helped, and a few times from some of your extra-curricular activities. And those were the most explicit descriptions of you I've ever heard." Alyssa's heart sank a little remembering what some of the women had told her about him.

"I guess I leave quite an impression." Dean smirked a little just imagining what those lucky women had to say about him.

"Yes, you do." 'Great, now I've fed his ego, as if it wasn't big enough,' she continued in her mind.

"So, you've been asking around about us, then?" He surmised he and Sam would have to keep a lower profile from now on. The less people knew about them, the safer they would be.

"That's not the only way I was tracking you."

"What do you mean?" Dean stood a little straighter.

"I'm a dream walker, Dean. Where do you think I can go?" She pointed to her own head to show him where she'd really been.

"You mean you've been in my head?" His fists were clenched at his sides. "What gives you the right to poke around in my dreams?"

"Well, it's not like I had your cell phone number and could just call you." Alyssa knew this was going to be hard for him to hear, and it looked like he wasn't going to take this well.

"But you were in my dreams. You didn't have the stones to tell me what happened with you and my dad, but you decide to invade my privacy?" Dean's voice was becoming louder as he spoke. "You had no right to do that, Alyssa."

"I had no rights at all, Dean. But I had to find you so you would know what happened between me and your dad and to tell you how and maybe why your father is dead." She was raising her voice to match his.

"I know why he died. He died because I was…." Dean couldn't finish the thought, much less the sentence.

Alyssa knew instinctively what he was going to say. She'd known nothing short of one of his sons being in danger would defeat John Winchester. Hunters spoke highly of John's abilities as a hunter, but criticized the way he sometimes went about doing the job. And only Death itself could have driven John to the most extreme. Dean must have been near death, much like she had experienced so many years ago. Without realizing it, Alyssa's hand gently touched the scars that crossed the right side of her neck, and her mind slipped back to the night that sent her life on the path to becoming a hunter.

She was a thirty-year-old trapped in the body of a fourteen year old. At least that's what her grandmother used to say about her. Grandma Anna had been helping her "grow" her abilities, and she had been practicing a little bit of witchcraft, the dream walking, and some spell work for the past two years.

The house she had chosen was very old. The remains of shutters hung from the windows, and the ivy had grown up the side of the house almost consuming it.

It was supposed to be vacant, the perfect place for a practice run for a summoning. She had been working on her summoning spells and was hoping to contact the spirit of the previous owner of the house. Alyssa had done her homework and knew the owner had died peacefully in his sleep. No one or no thing was supposed to have been there.

She had just set up a protection circle and was prepared to do the ritual, when she felt she wasn't alone anymore.

The sounds of heavy breathing surrounded her echoing off the empty walls of the abandoned house. The smell of stale blood permeated the stale air. She could feel its eyes on her. Whatever it was, was watching her, smelling her, and sizing her up as either foe or food. She wasn't sure what her next move should be, but she couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

She had slowly backed out of the circle, not knowing where she was going, as she wasn't too familiar with the layout of the house, and backed herself into a corner of the room with no avenue for escape.

Alyssa could still feel the pain of her body impacting the wall as the thing hit her. She screamed as the force of the strike stole her breath. She stared into the eyes of a human that was not a human.

His hair was dirty and matted, his clothes were torn to shreds, and he was snarling at her with huge doglike teeth. She knew what he was from her studies, but she had never come across one, until now.

He was a werewolf. It was a full moon tonight, and he was hungry for her blood, her heart. He was licking the sweat from her face, tasting her, preparing himself for his next meal, her, when he froze and sniffed the air. The werewolf's head snapped back and forth, it's eyes wide with fear, growling as if he'd detected a danger she couldn't see, hear, nor smell.

The werewolf dropped her from his grasp and left the room to look for the source of whatever it was that drew his attention away from her. It was her only chance to escape the house and certain death.

She had just reached for her athame, a gift from her grandmother when she heard the sounds of gunshots and shouting. There were men coming and it sounded like they were in a hurry to get in the house. She thought it would be best to run now, find somewhere safe to wait it all out, and come back later for her things, but nothing went as she had planned.

The werewolf bolted back into the room and snatched her up before she'd made it out of the room, shielding his body with hers. His long, sharp fingernails dug deep into the flesh of her neck. The smells of him so close to her sent her stomach rolling.

Hot on the werewolf's trail was a man who seemed to fill the room. He wore a long trench coat despite the warmth of the summer night. The nickel plate of the gun shone in the moonlight as he raised it to her eye level.

This man could clearly see the werewolf had her in its grip, but the look on his face showed no emotion, not even the slightest concern for her predicament. His eyes were darkened by the shadows of the moonlit night, so she wasn't sure if he was actually seeing her at all.

Another figure had entered the room, shorter and younger than the first man. They spoke to each other, but she couldn't hear what they were saying over the werewolf's heavy breathing in her ear.

There were now two guns aimed at Alyssa and her captor. She knew she was either dead by gunshot or dead by werewolf, but only she would be the one to decide her death, no one else.

She remembered the ritual knife in her hand was pure silver, and she had read werewolves didn't respond well to the precious metal when it contacted their blood. She gripped the handle tightly, slowly moved her arm forward, and with all her strength, stabbed the knife clear through the werewolf's leg.

The roar in her ear momentarily deafened her, and then so many things happened all at once; it was mostly a blur. The werewolf dropped her as the silver met his blood, but not before slicing his nails into her flesh, followed by gunshots all around her.

Alyssa fell to the floor, clutching her throat, desperately trying to scream for help, but no sound could escape her ravaged neck. The two men ran to her side, trying to help her stop the bleeding that could quickly end her life. They were talking to her, asking her questions, but she couldn't hear them past the sound of her own blood rushing through her ears. Before she lost her grip on the conscious world, Alyssa caught a glimpse of another shadow in the house.

'That makes three of them. Where did they come from?' she remembered thinking before the blackness swallowed her.

She woke up in the hospital a few days later, bruised, stitched, and sore, but alive. Her life after that was never the same. She has the scars to constantly remind her of just how close she had come.

And as quickly as the memory had begun, it had ended, and she was back in the motel room with one of the men who had changed her life.

Dean watched the movie of her past reflected in her eyes. He, too, remembered it as if it were yesterday.

He had been fourteen at the time, and Sam ten. Dad had tracked a werewolf that was responsible for having killed at least four people they knew of. It was trapped in what they had first thought to be an old abandoned house.

When Dean had come into the room and found the werewolf with a hostage, he knew that things had gone from bad to worse. Dad had wanted to shoot them both because he wasn't sure if the girl had been bitten.

Better safe than sorry, he'd said. But Dean argued with his father for the first time in his life. What if she hadn't been infected? Then they would have killed an innocent person.

Dean had seen the circle drawn on the floor and the ritual items. He knew she wasn't here as an intended meal for the werewolf. She was here with her own intentions and had ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The werewolf's scream had jolted them from their dispute, and as soon as she was clear, he and Dad let loose on the silver ammunition. The girl had gotten out of the way, but she hadn't come out of it unscathed.

The werewolf had done some damage before it died, morphing back to its human form. The cuts weren't deep enough to kill her, but they were deep enough to bleed, and bleed a lot. He and Dad had run to her and did what they could to keep her alive.

She had passed out from the blood loss before she could tell them anything about herself. Dad had taken her to the nearest hospital they could find, and when she was well enough, Bobby had taken her under his wing and trained her as a hunter. They didn't see her again until about four years later when time seemed to have stood still for both he and Alyssa.

They both brought themselves back from their individual trips down memory lane to once again continue the interrogation and confession.

"I tried to find you, get a bead on your location around the time your father died, but I couldn't. You were out of reach or lost, something like that." Alyssa remembered how afraid she'd been after her failed attempt to enter his dream. She moved across the room, not sure if he would accept her encroaching on his personal space. "I was really scared for you, Dean. I didn't know where you were, how to find you, or what had happened to you."

"It's a long story, but you know how it ended." He looked into her eyes, seeing the sorrow for his loss. 'She really means it,' he thought.

"I didn't come here to paint some horrible picture of your father. I only wanted to tell you what I knew."

"You didn't, so don't worry about that. He's been doing that on his own." It struck deep in his heart for him to say it out loud, but he knew it was true. His father had good intentions, just not the know-how to keep from hurting others to do what he thought was right.

"How did you find out about my dad?" Dean sat on the end of the bed nearest the door, feeling the fight wasn't worth the effort anymore. He always took the bed closest to the door, so he could be the first to protect Sam. They'd been doing it since they were kids, and it wasn't a habit he was willing to break.

"I saw it in a vision." Alyssa went to her leather bag and opened it.

"You have visions?"

"Not like Sam. I was born with them. There's no pain or anything with them. I just see, like a waking dream." She brought a sketchbook out of her bag and handed it to Dean. "Here, this should explain a lot. The last few should tell you everything you want to know about why I'm here."

Dean took the book in his hands, not sure if he wanted to open it up and see what was inside. So to avoid the inevitable a little longer, he found another question for Alyssa.

"So, how did Sam come out of this looking like he's spent a week at a spa." Dean needed a change of subject, and his brother's miraculous recovery was a great place to start.

"When I was in there with him, I could feel he was running on an empty tank, literally living on the verge of an exhaustive shut down of all systems."

"We've been busy lately," he said flatly.

"Haven't we all?"

"So how is he now?" His concern for Sam let the snide remark slide.

"I gave him some of my energy. Sort of refilled his tank." She knew he'd understand it more if she spoke about it in car terms. "That's why I needed to eat after it was over."

"Oh," Dean knew she had had some abilities, he'd seen them in action, but he'd never had the chance to find out the extent of what she could do before she left. Was forced to leave, he corrected himself. "How do you know about the children and the demon? I mean if you're not one of them, how did you get involved in it?"

"The three in the back are rather important." She sat on the other bed; the one Sam had been in when she had arrived at their door, not wanting to give up any more information that was needed at the moment.

He thumbed through the pages of pencil images. There were sketches of people dying, people who looked possessed, and other violent and graphic images.

They were drawn, as collages with each page showing the images of one vision, and each were dated. On one of the last three pages there was a small boy who could not have been more than six. His body seemed to be suspended in the air. The picture next to it showed a young man with a bullet hole in his chest.

"You see this in your head? Did you stop any of this from happening?" He and Sam had followed Sam's visions to help those who were affected by them. Did she do the same?

"Yeah, I did. A few of them. But not all of them turned out to have happy endings."

He was still looking at the picture of the boy floating in midair and the young man with a hole in his chest. "What do these have to do with the demon?"

"That one there," she pointed to the drawing he had stopped on, "was a demon related one. He was one of the chosen children."

Dean turned the page to the second to the last drawing in the book and regretted doing so. The images on the page were of his father on the day he died.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to see it, but I had to draw it when it happened," she whispered loud enough for him to hear.

His father's face was perfectly sketched, forever preserved in pencil, in the last moment of his life. Dean couldn't tear his eyes away from the picture, but he knew he had to move on to get answers, so his eyes scanned the other sketches on the page.

There were three other pictures drawn on the page with his father's image. One was of him, in a coma in the hospital with tubes coming out of him breathing life into his lungs. The other pictures were of the demon's eyes and the Colt.

It all finally made sense to Dean. He had speculated as to why he had lived and his father had died, but now it was here in front of him, plain as day. Even with the evidence in his hands, he still didn't want to believe it.

Dean turned the page to the last in the sketchbook and sat up straight, his eyebrows furrowed. Alyssa's drawing abilities were worthy of high praise, but he didn't think the art world was ready for what she brought to life with a pencil and paper.

From the page, Sam's face stared back at him with eyes of flames. Next to Sam's picture was a sketch of the gun pointing out of the door, and next to that one was his baby, the Impala, parked outside in the motel parking lot.

"So you knew what you were going to see when you got here?" Dean questioned her as he closed the book and handed it back to her.

"I knew it would come to be at some point, but I wasn't sure what I would find when I got here. I thought when the door opened I'd find Sam standing there with those eyes. It was a relief to see it wasn't that way." She put the sketchbook in her leather bag.

While Dean and Alyssa were discussing things of the past, Sam slowly made his way to the restaurant. He wasn't sure what to make of the arrival of Alyssa ten years after they'd last seen her. He remembered the very first time he met Alyssa.

It was a night he would never forget, their first werewolf hunt, and it hadn't gone well. He had come in after all the gunfire had erupted to find a human victim. After it was over and the girl miraculously survived, Dad had taken her to Bobby's salvage yard. She didn't have a home or any family to care for her, so he thought Bobby could use some help around the yard, and maybe train her as a hunter. And that was the end of the Alyssa story for him.

They didn't run into her again until he was fourteen and Dean was eighteen. Things were pretty serious between Dean and Alyssa back then. But then it seemed it was over just as quick as it had started, and what was left behind in Dean wasn't easy to deal with. Now they find out it wasn't her doing at all but their father who was responsible for ending the relationship.

'It was just like Dad to step in and screw everything up,' Sam thought.

He took a seat at the counter as the waitress poured him a hot cup of coffee and handed him a menu. He ordered the breakfast special and more coffee. While he waited for his order, he thought about what he and Alyssa had seen.

The images of the fire, the chaos, the death, everything replayed through his mind. He remembered seeing his face before the vision ended. His eyes were fire. Not red, black, or even yellow, but flames burning within him.

What the hell did that mean? Something about that wasn't right. There was just something all wrong about the vision to begin with. His food finally arrived, so he left the thinking alone and started eating.

Sam was just finishing the last few bites of his meal, still seeing the images in his mind, not sure of what to make of them.

_Like those pictures, do you, Sammy?_

Sam jerked as though someone had struck him. He looked around quickly wondering who had spoken to him. The other customers in the restaurant were eating their meals, oblivious to the world around them.

_Don't worry, my boy. They can't hear me. It's all in your head, you know. _

Again, Sam tried to locate the origin of the voice. He slyly looked from person to person checking for eye contact and other telltale signs that something was amiss, but he found nothing out of the ordinary happening around him.

_I know who she is, Sam. I know what she is. She'll come in handy real soon. Keep her safe for me. _

The voice announced its departure with an evil, guttural laugh. Sam recognized the voice and the feeling of evil that had washed over him: the demon.

Sam left the money on the counter, chugged down the rest of his coffee, and nearly ran out the door of the restaurant. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it didn't feel like something good.

He was sure it was the Yellow-Eyed Demon talking to him. But how did he get into his head? Was he talking about Alyssa? What did the demon know about her? Was she a danger to him and Dean? Answers. I need answers, he screamed in his mind.

Sam had reached the motel room door before he even realized it. He had been so preoccupied with the images and now the voice he had walked the whole way back to the motel on autopilot. He was reaching for the doorknob when Dean opened it staring at his brother in bewilderment.

As if reading each other's minds, they said in unison, "Dude, we need to talk."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Sam pushed past Dean into the room and grabbed his duffel bag. "Dean, the demon is on his way here right now. I don't know when he'll be here, but he's coming."

"How the hell do you know that?" Dean had grabbed his own bag and began to stuff his clothes in it.

"He spoke to me in my head. He told me we needed to keep her safe for him."

"How the hell is he talking to you in your head? How the hell does he know about her? Are you sure he was talking about Alyssa?" He continued to pack his clothes, hoping Sam would come up with some answers. Dean wanted to tell his brother what he learned from Alyssa, but it seemed there was no time for that now.

"I don't know, Dean. I just don't know."

Alyssa stood in the bathroom doorway, watching the two men frantically pack their belongings, making sure to forget nothing.

"I'm leaving. You two go north, and I'll keep heading south!" Alyssa grabbed her jacket and bag and ran out the motel room door, staring into the darkened sky.

"Alyssa, no!" Sam made to follow her, but Dean was quicker on the draw.

Outside in the moonless night, she made her way to the middle of the parking lot, looking from one end to the other, searching for something.

'The stars look so beautiful,' she thought.

'_Just make sure they're not the last stars you see,'_ the voice cautioned.

She closed her eyes to the night and opened herself up to the energy around her. She envisioned tendrils of her power working their way out into the world, searching for something, anything that could tell her what was coming.

She felt it, him, coming their way. Every fiber of her being was screaming for her to run, but the voice spoke louder.

'_We fight or we run. But you have to do something.'_

Just what do you want me to do? She could feel the air getting thicker.

"Alyssa!" Dean ran out the door with his bag in hand. Sam was right behind him. "What the hell is she doing, Sam?" Dean's arms were covered in the same goose bumps he'd felt earlier when she'd been working with Sam's vision.

"I don't know. " Sam could feel Alyssa's energy reaching out, touching him, awakening a part of him he had never known before.

"He's here," she whispered.

The explosion knocked Alyssa off her feet sending a fireball well over a hundred feet in the air and spreading debris across the parking lot and into the streets. The restaurant and the patrons inside had been obliterated.

Dean ran to Alyssa helping her off the ground.

"You alright?" Dean looked at what remained of the restaurant. They had just been in there eating, and so had Sam.

"I'm fine. All those people, Dean." Alyssa could feel the death around her and see the spirits of those who had died wandering around aimlessly. Some of them disappeared in momentary flashes of light, while others seemed to have no idea what had happened to them and searched for lost loved ones.

"_You knew, didn't you? You knew something was coming."_

'I didn't know it would be this.'

"What the hell?" Dean was looking at the remains of the burning restaurant. Someone was walking out of it. Perhaps he was a survivor of the accident

"We need to go now!" Alyssa knew who it was and wanted nothing more than to run as far and as fast as possible.

"I agree!" Sam knew too. He was trying to get their bags in the Impala, keeping his eye on the figure of a man walking right through the flames without a smoldering ember touching him.

Dean was just about to open the car door when he felt himself being thrown back against the side of the Impala.

Sam hit the rear end of the car and turned to see Alyssa pinned between him and his brother.

"Good job, Sammy. I knew I could trust you. She's still in one piece." He sniffed the air, "And she's still fresh." The yellow-eyed demon was pleased to see the Winchester sons, but not as much as seeing her, his ultimate prize.

She was what he had spent so much time searching for. And here she was, lined up with the Winchesters, ready for the picking.

"Have you met the boys before, my dear?' he waited for a response. Getting none, he continued, "Oh, I see you have. Was it a pleasant reunion?"

The body he had possessed was handsome for a forty-something. His hair had been graying when the heart attack hit. As the life fled his blue eyes, the demon had made himself at home.

"I know about you, "Alyssa hadn't personally dealt with him, but she knew someone who had been touched by him, someone very close to her. Since then, she'd spent a lot of her free time learning about this high-level demon.

"I wouldn't listen to the boys here. Their opinion of me is rather biased. I'm really not that bad of a guy." His full attention was on Alyssa, but he didn't want Sam and Dean to feel left out. "Now, I bet you boys are wondering why I'm here, and why I haven't killed you yet. I'm not here for you, this time. I want her." His yellow eyes trailed up and down Alyssa, making her feel as though she were a piece of meat on the auction block.

Sam was straining against the demon's control. "What do you want with her?"

"Now if I gave away the punch line, it wouldn't be as much fun watching you two play the game? But, I'll make it interesting. I'll show her."

The demon laid his cold, dead hand against Alyssa's face, almost as if to cradle her head. She tried to pull away from him but found she couldn't move very far. Alyssa gasped as she was pulled violently into a vision, her breath caught in his demonic grasp.

Dean watched helplessly as she fought against the demon's touch. Tears were streaming from her eyes as she lived the scene that played in her mind. Dean swore to himself he was personally going to be the one to pull the trigger that killed the bastard.

Alyssa finally breathed as the vision ended and the demon released her from his grip. She turned to Dean, her eyes wild with fear.

Don't let him see it. Don't let him win, he thought, willing her to hear him.

"So, what do you think, Alyssa? Your one dream comes true. I can make it happen," the demon's yellow eyes searched her soul for her answer, all the while grinning as if he'd already won.

"Leave her alone!" Dean growled, straining against the force that held him to the car.

Alyssa could hear his voice, but her mind was deep in the images of the demon's promise.

"Alyssa, don't listen to him!" Sam was doing what he could to back up his brother, trying to break free.

She could see herself in the vision: her one dream. Could it really happen?

Dean could almost see the thoughts working their way through her mind. "Whatever he promises comes with a price, Alyssa! You know how it works with demons!"

Even though her heart cried for what could be, she knew he was right. There would be a high price, and it was a price she wasn't willing to pay even if it meant for her to shatter all hopes for that one dream to ever come true.

She could see Dean's face in the light from the blazing diner, the flames reflected in his eyes. His fight, his anger, his desire to destroy this demon touched something in her. She saw the fear and anguish of someone from her past living and breathing in the man trapped next to her. She searched herself for something, for some way to protect him, to save him.

And there behind the fear, hidden by the rage, was a cold darkness waiting for her to call to it.

Seeing the look on her face, the calm in her eyes, Dean worried Alyssa was going to do something foolish and get herself killed. He struggled even more to free himself from the invisible clutches of the demon.

Alyssa had seen the rage in Dean's eyes, but that's not what she felt at this moment.

'_Call to it, Alyssa.'_

'Call to what?' She thought back.

But something in her knew exactly what to do, and she simply followed directions. The darkness obeyed her, coming forth like the night takes the day. In the blackness in her mind, she could let everything go, her fear, her hate, her anger, and her pain. She no longer feared death or this demon. She had faced the worst of humanity within herself and in this world, and he was no match for that. With her soul void of all emotion, the peacefulness grew, reaching towards her, and wrapping around her.

The demon sensed the change, and saw the brown in Alyssa's eyes fade to a sheer white.

"What's this? A new trick, Sammy? Have you developed a new power?" The demon seemed impressed.

"That's not me, you bastard." Sam was able to free a hand. The demon's powers were weakening, but something within him was growing stronger.

Dean could also feel the power surging through the air, and it was as if he were under attack by thousands of bugs crawling across his skin.

"Let them go." Her voice sounded just as calm as her face looked. Alyssa stepped away from the car with ease. The demon no longer had a hold of her. "Let them go," she repeated as she encroached upon the demon's human host.

And with those few words spoken, the boys were free. They nearly fell forward from the rapid release of their bodies from their invisible restraints. Sam and Dean were no longer trapped by the demon. They looked at each other in disbelief.

"Leave now. You have no power here." Alyssa moved ever closer to the demon. She could smell the faint cologne that had lingered on the body of the man as he had died.

"Not you, huh, Sam? Then that means…" The demon seemed worried at first, but then a new realization crossed his features. Knowing he was most likely going to lose this battle, he wanted to test her, before she did could do anything to him that might be permanent.

Using all he could muster, he tried to throw Dean against the car.

Nothing.

He tried lifting him in the air, wanting with all his desire to throw the infuriating Winchester far from his sight.

Again nothing.

He wanted to tear Dean apart right there, but he couldn't even cause a scratch. His power was null and void, as if turned off by something of which she controlled.

"Leave NOW!!" A pulse of energy went through the air. Sam felt it as a punch to his stomach, and Dean felt needles running up and down his skin.

The demon had vanished. He wasn't walking away, hadn't been thrown into the air, or was slowly fading away; he was just gone.

The boys looked around with their guns drawn searching for a target, wondering if he'd show right back up again.

"Dean." It was all the strength Alyssa had left to say his name. Her eyes were normal again as she collapsed on the ground unconscious.

Sam jammed the gun into his jacket pocket and laid two fingers on the side of her neck that held no scars, feeling something within him pulsing with the same rhythm as her heartbeat. She was alive, just out for the count.

Dean picked her up and placed her in the back seat of the Impala. She had only the leather bag, so Sam gathered it up and put it in the trunk with their things.

"What the hell happened, Dean?" Sam got in the passenger seat, glancing back at the unconscious form in the back seat.

"I don't know, Sam. But I think the demon just got his ass kicked by a girl." Dean started up the car and headed north leaving behind the devastation and bringing with him a myriad of unanswered questions.

Alyssa was back in his life, but what had she brought with her? And did he really want to get involved in this all over again? Dad wasn't here to get in the way, but where exactly could this all lead? He decided it was best to leave the emotional side alone and focus on the matter at hand.

They needed help from someone they knew they could trust. Bobby would know what to do; at least Dean hoped he would. He also silently hoped Bobby wasn't pissed at Alyssa for anything as well. Another tense family reunion could make things difficult.

The drive had been a long, uneventful ten hours, and they were still at least two days from Bobby's junkyard in South Dakota.

After a bit of arguing, Sam finally convinced Dean to stop over at a motel so they could get something to eat, check on the still unconscious Alyssa, and get some much needed sleep.

While Sam was paying for the rooms, Dean was doing his best to rouse Alyssa in the back seat of the car.

"Alyssa." He was concerned with her still being out for this long.

What the hell happened? He thought about their last meeting with the demon. What did the demon show her to make her freak out and do something really weird? And how had she stopped the demon? So many questions with no answers

"Alyssa, wake up." Dean held her face in his hands. She seemed so at peace as she slept. She hadn't changed much in the last decade or so. She was still just as beautiful as their first night together. Damn. Why did she have to come back?

"No, don't make me…" Alyssa whispered. Her breath caught in her throat before she passed out once again.

Dean was relieved to know that she was still in there somewhere. He maneuvered her out of the car and into his arms, waiting for Sam to arrive with the room keys.

Sam was back with the keys to two rooms. It had been decided that each of them would take turns watching her until she came around.

Sam was taking the first shift, so Dean could get some sleep. After all, he had driven straight through without stopping.

The rooms were modestly decorated as most small town motel rooms go. Dean laid Alyssa on the bed, arranging her in a comfortable sleeping position.

"You want to shower first? " he asked Sam.

"No. You go ahead. I'll just watch TV 'til it's your turn." Sam settled down in one of the chairs and found the remote to the television. "She's going to be okay, right, Dean?"

"Yeah, she woke up in the car. I think she'll be okay." He left his brother with Alyssa and headed to their room to shower and catch some sleep.

With the stench of charred flesh and burnt wood washed away, Dean lay on the bed hoping sleep would overtake him quickly. However, he was disappointed to find himself staring at the ceiling thinking of the previous night's events. He kept going over what he had witnessed with the demon and Alyssa, how he felt about her sudden return into his life, how she could be tied with the demon, how he felt about the truth of her disappearance, how she beat the demon. The thoughts and questions just kept coming, but some time during his reverie, sleep finally caught up to him.

It was Dean's turn to watch the unconscious woman, and Sam was seriously fighting off the exhaustion that threatened to engulf him. He'd given his brother two more hours of sleep then the four they'd originally agreed upon, for Sam knew he needed it.

He shook Dean's arm, "Hey, sleeping beauty, your turn."

"Hmmph. What?" It felt like he had just fallen asleep. "Already?"

"What do you mean? You've been asleep for six hours." Sam was heading to the bathroom to take his shower.

"What? Hey! Is she okay? She still asleep?" Dean was up and wide-awake, searching for his clothes.

Sam shouted from behind the bathroom door. "Yeah, she's fine and still asleep. There's coffee on the table for you."

"Thanks!" Dean finished getting dressed, grabbed the coffee, and headed for Alyssa's room.

She was still sleeping pretty much as he had left her. Dean settled down in the chair to take his turn at watching the tube, expecting nothing more to happen for the rest of the day.

Alyssa sat straight up in the bed; eyes wide open, gasping for breath as if she had been drowning.

"Whoa, geez." Dean almost choked on his coffee, spilling some on his pants. He set his cup on the table and moved across the room to the bed, sitting next to her.

"Where are we?" She looked around at the unfamiliar room.

"We're safe. It's okay. You need to take it easy. You've been asleep for about sixteen hours. Sam ordered pizza earlier, but it's cold by now. You want some?" Dean got up to get the pizza for her.

"I need my sketchbook. Please."

"Sure. Don't you think you should eat first?" He got her leather bag and handed it to her on the bed. She hurriedly pulled out the book and pencils.

Dean dropped the pizza box in front of her as he sat down next to her again. Alyssa tore open the box and grabbed the first piece of pizza she could wrestle free. With food in one hand and a pencil in the other, she began sketching on the first clean sheet in her book.

"You're welcome," he said, watching her as she drew.

Lines here, lines there, it didn't make a lick of sense to him. He wanted to know what had happened with the demon, and it seemed if he waited long enough, he was going to find out.

Slowly the scene came together. He could make out the demon and Alyssa standing next to him. Sam was there too; his eyes darkened, black, as if possessed. As more of the vision came to light, Dean laid a hand on her arm, stopping her from drawing.

"Alyssa. Is this what the demon showed you back there?" His hand was warm against hers, quickening her pulse with his touch. She swallowed a bite of pizza a bit too hard.

"Yes." She whispered. "Please let me finish it."

Dean let her go back to work on the drawing. He got his coffee and again turned his attention to her forceful sketching. As she drew more of the vision, Dean could finally make out what the demon had shown her.

Alyssa was standing next to the demon with an infant in her arms and her belly swollen with the promise of another on the way, and Sam seemed to be a part of it all somehow as he was in the foreground with the eyes of fire. Hidden tears appeared on the drawing smearing a few of the lines.

"Hey, it's okay," Dean took the pencil and book from her. He didn't want her to see it anymore, but he knew it was already forever in her mind. "Alyssa. The visions aren't set in stone. We stop them. That's what Sam and I do. He has a vision, we find the people, and we save them."

She finally had the strength to look Dean in the eyes. She hadn't the words to explain the depth of emotions the demon had touched with his vision for her future. How could he possibly understand how deep this really went? She wanted to cry, but not in front of him. She closed off her emotions, not wanting to let him see just how close she had come to breaking apart. A few tears escaped, but she quickly swept them away.

He didn't know how to handle a woman in tears. That was Sam's job, dealing with the emotional stuff. He admired her stone will to not let the emotions carry her away, but he also knew the true cost of such stoic doggedness.

Alyssa quickly regained her composure and excused herself to the shower.

He watched her with a sense that there was more to this than she was letting on. He got up and looked at the drawing again. The image of Alyssa pregnant gnawed at him. There was something he should know about this, something he should remember.

Was what she'd drawn the demon's ultimate plan? To make an army of demon half-breeds with Alyssa? And why her? What made her so special to be chosen for this?

Alyssa had cried herself out in the shower. Every fear, every horrible memory, every ache in her heart finally had an escape. She wouldn't allow Dean to see her this weak and vulnerable.

She had worked her ass off to gain the respect of other hunters. She wasn't about to blow everything she'd accomplished because of …what? The vision? What it meant to her? Could Dean even begin to understand? And what about Dean? How did she feel about him? How did he feel about her?

Their past flooded her mind, breaking her heart as if it had never been broken in the first place. Having to face him, look into his eyes, hear his voice calling her name was wicked torture. She wanted to touch him, feel him, and know him once again, but she didn't dare. Her track record with men wasn't just awful it was downright terrifying.

After her tryst with Dean ended the day after her eighteenth birthday, it had taken her a couple of years to get up the courage to even think about dating again. She had been so engrossed in hunting she completely forgot about her own emotional and physical needs.

On a hunt for a death omen, she had literally run into a nice, handsome guy who showed more than a passing interest in her. She took the chance and dated him for a couple of months, and their relationship was finally heading for more intimacy, but that's when things went very wrong.

They were in her motel room getting hot and heavy with the action and were about to make it to home base, when her new beau got out of the bed, never once answering her as she called to him over and over again. Without a sound or even a hesitation, he walked over to her leather bag, pulled out her ritual knife, and cut his own throat clear through.

She couldn't find her voice to scream as she listened to him choking on his own blood. She could only sit naked in the bed, in shock, and watch as his life flowed from the self-inflicted wound.

As the years passed, the same thing happened to the men she tried to have any type of relations with, even the one-night stand attempts. All of them were dead, all from suicides. She was like the Black Widow with men dropping dead around her.

After five suicides, she took herself off the dating field. The game was over for her. She didn't want to be responsible for the deaths of any more men. She never knew what the hell had been happening to her.

Her answer had been found in the demon's vision. She now knew why she had been alone all these years. He was keeping her for himself. No mortal man was allowed to touch her. She was to be his bride, and for her promised hand, he would give her what she had wanted most in this world.

The demon knew her deepest wish, and he was using it against her, bribing her with it. She thought of the image of herself holding an infant.

The sinking feeling in her chest was her heart shattering into tiny pieces, never to be whole again. If this were the only way for her to have that one wish, then she would have to regretfully decline the offer.

Freshly showered and emotionally spent, Alyssa stood in the doorway of the bathroom staring at Dean's back as he scrutinized her most recent sketching.

He had filled out quite a bit since she last saw him, his arms stretching the material of his shirt, his back muscular, but not too much. She felt the familiar stirrings within her, calling to him, wanting him.

'_Control yourself!'_ The voice screamed. _'You know what happens to them when you get too close.'_

This voice was familiar. She'd heard it so many times before, always guiding her, always keeping her safe.

Her body rejected the thoughts, driving her to want him. She couldn't fight the surge of long-denied hormones with sanity and reason.

'But he's a Winchester. He could handle it. Maybe he could find a way to stop it from happening again. I want him, please.'

The voice was not so easily persuaded.

'_And what happens if you fail to stop it? Could you live with yourself knowing you killed him?' _

'I already know the answer. Just forget it.'

She dropped the argument, reining her hormones under control as always, no longer wanting to think of the more than probable outcome. She steeled herself against her emotions and thoughts, and made her way back into the room.

"Dean," she stepped around him and took the picture from his hands. "I don't want to see it right now, okay?" Closing the book, she placed it and the pencils back in her bag.

"What do you think it means?" He stared at her as she put the book away. Her long hair was freshly washed and still damp. The smell of her was intoxicating. She had on a black tank top that showed off her toned arms so perfectly. Her jeans weren't too tight, but they did fit every curve of her nicely.

She grabbed another piece of pizza, snagged the last beer of the six-pack on the table, and plopped herself in the chair, crossing her long legs in front of her, Indian style. Dean sat down across the table from her, taking a piece of cold pizza for himself.

"It seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? I'm meant for bigger and nastier things. I'm tainted goods."

"What do you mean tainted goods?"

"I mean like I'm cursed," she said matter-of-factly and took a swig of her beer.

"You're not serious. You think this is your destiny? You think this is what's meant for you? And you're just going to accept it and not fight back?" Dean wasn't going to let her become another victim of the demon, especially if the demon's plan is to have half-breeds walking around the world.

"You think I want this? You think I want to be the mother of the destruction of the world?" Her voice cracked.

Speaking the word "mother" brought a wave of despair and pain stomping across the remains of her heart. She had to take a minute to breathe.

"I'm saying I now know why I haven't been able to be with anyone." She took a huge bite of pizza before she could no longer contain herself.

"What do you mean by…?" He saw the answer in her eyes. "You haven't been with anyone since we…?" Dean was in shock. "That's over ten years ago, Alyssa. How? Why?" He couldn't wrap his head around the idea of ten years of celibacy. Sam took almost a year to get over Jess enough to even kiss another girl, let alone sleep with one.

"It wasn't by my own design. I didn't want to be responsible for any more men killing themselves."

"Wait…they killed themselves? How?" He put his slice of pizza down, unable to finish it. "You were that bad?"

"Thanks, Dean. I feel so much better. And from what I recall, you were pretty impressed. Unless of course, you were just compensating for your own inadequacies." The fight was on if he wanted to continue, but secretly she hoped he wouldn't.

"Practice makes perfect you know." Dean regretted saying the words as soon as they'd left his lips. He could see the pain in her eyes, even though her face was as blank as one of the empty pages of her sketchbook.

She let the remark go, knowing going any further would only get one of them hurt, and maybe a few more scars. "We'd get to the point of getting to home base and they'd get up and kill themselves right in front of me. One used my own knife. Another used his own police-issued weapon. That was fun, trying to explain to the cops how one of their own blew his own head off because he was about to get lucky. And one guy even jumped out the window of his eighth floor apartment. He did a swan dive like I'd never seen before. If it could be done, they did it."

"Did their eyes go black or anything? Did they seem possessed?"

"Nope. Nothing." She stepped back into the past. "They got this blankness in their eyes, like the lights were on but nobody was home." She shook off the memory, "I stopped dating, and I concentrated on hunting. I'd do the job and move on before anyone could even say thanks."

"So this vision of you and the demon has something to do with dudes offing themselves? Like he's trying to keep you for himself or something. You think it has anything to do with what you did back there? I mean he didn't seem too surprised or even worried, almost like he was thrilled with what you did."

"I guess so. He's probably making sure I'm worthy of him or something like that. Does it matter? I'd rather take my own life than end up being his whore," she looked at the empty bottle in her hand, " I need another beer." She got up to head for the mini-fridge.

Dean grabbed her arm. A shock went through her body that reached to her very soul. She couldn't catch her breath. He felt so warm.

'Please, let me have him just once,' she pleaded.

'_Not on his life,'_ the reprimand was strong and unarguable.

"You okay?" He felt something pass through his hand, like warm water washing over his skin. It felt comforting, easing his worries.

"I'm fine," she pulled her arm from his grasp and continued on her search for another beer. Getting drunk was probably not the best idea right now, especially with Dean in the room, but considering what she was facing, drinking herself into a stupor was exactly what she needed.

The warm sensation worked its way through his body, lighting embers he thought were cold and dead. What could he do to help her? Could he help her?

He and Sam had discussed the implications of what Alyssa had been able to do to the demon. His brother's theory was she could negate the powers of evil, kind of like a positive to the demon's negative.

But they had no idea why the demon would be interested in her. What could he gain by possessing someone who could destroy his own powers? And what about the whole deal with her Black Widow syndrome? Was there a way to stop it? Again the questions bounced around in his head.

He watched as Alyssa cracked open another beer. She looked intent on drowning her problems in alcohol, and he knew from experience the ending result was nothing more than a hangover and a migraine.

She could feel his eyes on her. What did she care what Dean thought of her? Let him think whatever he wanted. She couldn't care less, really.

Was she kidding herself? Of course she gave a damn what Dean thought of her. She always had. She had sworn to herself if she had ever come across him again, she would make sure he knew whom and what she was, a strong hunter who could take care of herself. But now, he knew more than she had planned. He knew about the secret she had kept about his father, her dream walking abilities, and now her curse.

What must he think of me, now? Didn't matter. Nothing matters now. Her life as she knew it was over. Her family had fallen victim to the yellow-eyed demon, and now it was her turn.

Sam lay restless in the clean sheets of the motel bed, going over the heated discussion during their drive.

If she could strip the yellow-eyed demon of his powers, could she destroy him as well? What had the demon shown her? Did it have something to do with him and Dean? His thoughts ran around and around creating more questions. He finally fell asleep when the questions ran back around on themselves.

She had finished her third beer and was looking for a fourth. Unfortunately, the fridge was now empty.

"Beer run. Wanna go?" Alyssa grabbed her jacket heading for the door.

"You do know even after your completely wasted, it's all still going to be here when you sober up," he wanted to join her, but one of them needed to keep a clear head.

"Take that as a no, then?" She left the room ignoring his last remark. The cool, spring air hit her, momentarily bringing her back to her senses.

'_What are you doing?'_ she heard that inner voice she had come to know and hate.

Her own voice answered, "Getting wasted."

'_Tell him about all of it. Let him know the truth.' _

She had listened to this voice over the many years, and it had never steered her wrong. It had kept her alive, kept others alive, and guided her to people who needed her or who could help her. It had brought her to Dean and Sam. Like Pinocchio's Jiminy Cricket, her conscience was always with her, like an old friend, but now, it seemed to have turned against her.

"Leave me alone."

'_Why? So you can drown yourself in booze? Are you that disturbed you can't see he's right there waiting for you? Go talk to him.' _

Her eyes betrayed her self-control, widening with disbelief.

'I'm talking to a voice in my head. Of course, I'm disturbed. They know too much already. No more. Now go away.'

The corner gas station had a mini-mart and offered her many choices of alcoholic beverages. Beer was okay, but this particular day required something stronger. She paid for her bottle and headed back to the motel. The voice had thankfully given up, for now.

Dean was about to go looking for Alyssa when she barged through the door, a bag in hand.

"What's in the bag, Alyssa?" he could tell from the size and shape it wasn't beer.

"Jack and I go way back. He's a close friend," she pulled out the bottle of whiskey and set it on the table.

'Damn, she thought, no shot glasses. Oh, well.'

She opened the top and took a swig. The whiskey burned its way down her throat, coating her stomach, warming her instantly, and working its way into her arms and legs.

"I'll take that," Dean snatched the bottle from her, capping it closed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she narrowed her eyes. A fight? She was certainly up for that.

"When did you start hitting the hard stuff?" he suddenly felt older, much older.

"What business of it is yours? I'm old enough to drink, Dean. Now give it back!" She stood up to him, toe-to-toe, but since he was taller by at least six inches, eye-to-eye was a little harder.

This was too much like watching Dad drink himself unconscious. He hated seeing his father weak and helpless, and he certainly wasn't going to stand by and watch Alyssa do the same thing.

He saw the anger flash across her face, darkening her eyes. Again, the feelings he thought didn't exist anymore began to resurface. She was absolutely stunning when she was pissed off.

"Dean, I'm warning you. This is not a good time to screw with me."

"Forget it. I'm not watching this." He raised the bottle high out of her reach.

"Then go away. There's another room. Go baby-sit your brother." She reached for the bottle, missing it by a hair. Her anger was rising, and once it peaked, there was no stopping it. "Give me the bottle, now." Her voice was low and menacing.

'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em?' Dean twisted off the cap and took a long swallow of the whiskey. It felt good going down.

"What are you doing? That's mine, bought and paid for." Oh, if he thought he was just going to one-up her on the pity party, forget it!

"Beer was bought and paid for by me and Sam. You owe us a couple of bottles," he took another drink. The whiskey was doing its job, warming him up considerably.

"Money's on the table. Take it," she reached for the bottle again, but lost her balance. Apparently the beer and whiskey she had consumed had just met. Her hand landed on his chest, stopping her fall.

Her touch sent a wave of heat washing over him again working together with the whiskey, sending his head spinning. He caught her as she stumbled, his arm around her waist, the bottle hidden behind his back.

'His eyes, damn his eyes,' she thought as she tried to remain angry with him. Her body might not be cooperating, but her mind was just as sharp and clear as ever, at least for now. She could feel the muscles moving beneath his shirt as he stopped her from falling. She moved closer to him, her hand sliding across his chest to embrace him. Her eyes never left his. Her lips were but a breath away from his. She could feel the heat emanating from his body.

Just one movement and her lips were his, but not one of his muscles wanted to obey him. He felt paralyzed by the heat in her eyes. Could he risk letting her in again? What would it mean if he did?

"Dean," her voice was thick with lust.

"Yeah," he choked out, her breath warm against his face.

"Thank you," she pulled back abruptly with the bottle in her hand.

He had to stop and think about what had just happened. Damn, she's good, he thought.

Would he have taken that next step with her? Could he put the past behind him? He watched her sit down in the chair, prop her bare feet on the windowsill, and stare out into the world beyond this room.

Where was the carefree, wild teenager he had met over a decade ago. What had happened to her to create this hardened, seasoned hunter? He'd seen his fair share of hell on earth so he knew how much he and Sam had changed, but what could have driven her to this point? He sat at the table with her to wait out her self-destructive alcoholic consumption.

About an hour later and halfway through the bottle of Jack Daniels, Alyssa decided she'd had enough. She placed the bottle on the table and attempted to get up, but of course, her legs had fallen asleep. She caught the edge of the chair as she tried to walk. She was drunk; she knew it, but she didn't care.

Dean could see Alyssa was right where she wanted to be, numb. She simply didn't want to feel anymore. He understood that need more than she would probably ever know. He jumped up to help her to the bed, since that seemed to be where she was headed.

She felt his arms around her. Just for a moment, she could feel the overwhelming need to fall into him and never get up. The feeling was fleeting as the images of her dead suitors flashed across her intoxicated mind.

"No, don't. I got it," she slurred, pushing him away and very carefully making her way to the bed. She curled up into a pillow and let the tears come, silent and hidden; for her weakness was something she shared with no one. She succumbed to the sweet oblivion offered by the alcohol raging through her system.

Dean could only watch as Alyssa staggered her way to the bed. At least he didn't have to pick her up off the floor like he'd done with Dad so many times.

What could be hidden so deep within her that could tear her up this bad?

He'd seen Sam deal with his anger and emotions with alcohol. The promise Sam forced him to make that night still pierced his soul. He rubbed it away, concentrating on Alyssa's body sleeping on the bed. He couldn't see her crying, but he heard it in her breathing. Sam used to sound the same when he had cried himself to sleep as a child.

He caught sight of her leather bag slung across the back of the chair. In the sketchbook were images that could tell him what she had been through. It would be like looking into her diary to find out her innermost secrets, but this wasn't some teenage romance he was sneaking in on. This was her life, her future, and their mission on the line. Dean rummaged through the bag and found the book of visions. He sat back in the chair, glancing once at Alyssa's unconscious form, and flipped through the pages, hoping to find some clue as to who she had become and how.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Sam awoke vaguely remembering anything of where they were and why. Slowly, the fog of sleep lifted, bringing with it the memories of the past few days. He then realized his brother was snoring in the bed next to his, but Alyssa was nowhere to be found in the room.

Where is Alyssa? Why is Dean in here? He was supposed to be watching over her? Was something wrong? Sam wanted to ask the questions, but if Dean felt safe enough to come into the room, leaving Alyssa unattended, he trusted him.

The sun had gone down, which meant they had all been asleep for hours. His stomach grumbled its acknowledgement of just how much time had passed.

Sam saw a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels sitting on the table.

'Figures, he just drank himself to sleep,' he thought.

Sam quietly dressed and left to get something to eat, not noticing his brother was nowhere near asleep.

Dean had spent the day making sure Alyssa slept soundly and safely while he poured over her drawings. The things she had seen in her visions, the drawings she suffered to make from memories he realized were forever etched in her mind must have scarred her deeply. He thought he'd be able to sleep, but each time he closed his eyes, the images from her book came to life in full color.

'This must be how she feels every night,' he thought.

He eventually gave up on sleeping, content to wait for Sam to return so they could talk. He needed something to occupy his mind besides Alyssa's drawings.

Figuring Dean was still passed out drunk and not sure if Alyssa was up for eating, Sam opted to bring back food for the two of them. Not many burger places were still open this late, but he had found one, and while he waited for his order, his cell phone went off.

"Dean?" Sam was surprised. Dean can dial when drunk? He thought.

"Hey, Sam. Are you getting food?"

"Yeah, I though you were asleep. I got an order in for Alyssa and me. You want something too?" He didn't sound drunk.

"Don't bother with Alyssa. She won't be eating any time soon."

"Why? Did you challenge her to a game of quarters? And she lost?"

"No. She put that bottle down all by herself. And she didn't want to share."

His brother sounded disappointed. "Wow. Okay. I'll bring you something. Be back soon." He hung up and placed a third order.

While he waited for Sam, Dean figured it was time to look in on Alyssa. He turned on the lamp across the room so as not to wake her. The smell of the alcohol hung heavy in the air. She had wrapped herself up in the pillows, her hair spilling across the bed.

He wanted to know what was going on in her mind. How was she coping with everything she'd been through and seen?

His curiosity wasn't just for her sake. He wanted to know if there was a better trick to dealing with this life than he had found, some other way to handle the stress and grief.

Her tossing and turning in the bed interrupted his thoughts.

Was she having a nightmare? What was she seeing? He touched her arm hoping to calm her.

Her eyes opened briefly catching a glimpse of his face. She'd had this dream many times before, especially after consuming too much of the whiskey, but that's okay. It wasn't her first time losing the battle with good ol' Jack Daniels. They were the best of friends after all.

And as always, Jack took away her fears. Since this was all a dream, she could have this "dream Dean" and do whatever she wanted to him.

'See, Jack, you were right, no fears. Not anymore,' her inebriated mind thought.

Being drunk was the only time she had her mind to herself, her thoughts to her alone. The voice was quieted with alcohol, and the few times she allowed herself a chance to be by herself completely, it had required something more than a few beers.

Acting on her dream's desires, she grabbed a hold of his shirt, pulling him into her drunken embrace. He was so warm, so solid, so there. This was her best dream yet.

Dean had seen her eyes open. She seemed lost in her own world, the whiskey still giving her the high she wanted. What he didn't expect was the smile that crossed her face and the hand that grabbed his shirt.

Before he knew it he was in a lip-lock with a very drunk Alyssa. He didn't want to return the kiss, but how could he resist? Should he? After all, they were nowhere near home base, right? As long as they didn't get that far, what harm was there?

She was digging her nails into his back, wanting more of him. She moved her body against his, stirring fires within him he hadn't even known were smoldering.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't let her do this, not drunk, not like this. Reluctantly, he pulled her arms from around him and tried to push her away.

No, don't leave me, she thought. She grabbed for him, not wanting to let him go. Her desires for him were raging with the whiskey, riding along side the dream, wanting it to continue. She wasn't letting go without a fight. She straddled his lap, kissing and biting his neck.

Dean couldn't believe his reaction to what was happening to him. Here was a woman, throwing herself at him, and he was doing his best to escape. But Alyssa was drunk, not thinking clearly. He needed to pull her out of this and sober her up before someone got hurt, namely him. He could think of only one way to quickly wake up a drunk.

He played along, allowing her to kiss him all the while guiding her into the bathroom, leaving the lights off so she wouldn't know what to expect. He lifted her off the floor, her legs wrapping around him.

Stepping into the tub without missing a beat, he continued the charade, but found himself succumbing to his own desires for her. Her lips felt so soft, her skin delicious as he bit along her neck. The feel of her body against his sent shockwaves through him. Momentarily lost in the passion, he forgot his plan. His body took over, responding to her, his hormones looking for release.

This was what she wanted. He nibbled down her neck, exactly how she liked it. The pain, no matter how small, made her feel alive.

He kissed her again, lowering her slowly to the floor of the tub. The cold of the walls settled into his arms as he held her, bringing him back to his senses, and reminding him of his original plan.

She didn't know what hit her, as she gasped from the contact of the extremely cold water. Dean felt a bit guilty with his cruelty, but he needed to wake her up and fast. He hadn't been sure about how much longer he could have contained himself. The cold water was shocking for him as well, but it helped him douse his own raging fire. He watched as Alyssa collapsed on the floor of the tub, yelling for the water to stop.

Sam came running into the bathroom. "What is going on, Dean?" he saw his brother was wet from the shower, but he wasn't as soaked through as Alyssa. She was fully dressed, screaming for Dean to turn it off.

"You awake now?"

"Yes, damn it! I'm awake!" She was going to kill him the first chance she got.

"Good," Dean walked out smiling, leaving the cold water running over her.

"What was that all about?" Sam followed Dean wondering what he missed, looking at his brother as if he were some cruel tyrant.

"Time to get up, that's all," he didn't want to discuss what had occurred with Sam. Not before he talked it over with Alyssa, if she was still speaking to him.

He grabbed a bag of food, went back to his own room, and sat down to eat, still feeling her against his skin, her body moving with his, and the taste of her lips.

Sam just shook his head, not wanting to get in the middle of this.

Alyssa sat in the cold shower, wondering what the hell had just happened to her. She remembered Dean's lips on hers. But wasn't that a dream? Wasn't it just a drunken self-created dream?

The reality hit her like a ton of a bricks. It hadn't been a dream. She had been all over him. And he wanted her, even kissing her with as much passion as she had kissed him. She could feel the residual effects of his lips against hers, the pain of his bites on her neck. What if he hadn't stopped her? What would have happened to him?

Alyssa stripped off her cold clothes, turned the water to as hot as she dared, and desperately tried to wash the whiskey out of her system. Her mind tried to rationalize her actions. She had been drunk. But the voice decided to pipe in its two cents worth.

'_Being drunk can get someone killed and not just by driving.' _

'I was weak. I slipped up.'

'_You're weakness and that slip-up could have cost him his life._'

'I know, I know.' She finished her shower alone, no voice, no thoughts.

Dean and Sam were in the midst of their burger combos when they heard the motel room door next to theirs slam shut. They stared at each other, knowing the sound had come from Alyssa's room. They bolted for their door, just in time to see Alyssa leaving, her leather bag in hand.

She was storming off into the night, on foot, hell bent on leaving. Dean ran to her, cutting off her escape attempt. Sam held back thinking it was best to stay out of this unless it became necessary for him to step in and rescue them both once again.

"What? You're pissed about the shower thing, right? I'm sorry. It was all I could think of, and it was kinda funny. If you think about it." He tried laying on the innocent boyish charm, but it wasn't working.

She ignored his remarks about the shower and moved to step around him.

"Where are you going, Alyssa?" he stepped in front of her again.

"Disneyland. What do you care?" She couldn't look at him. Her emotions were in a whirlwind, and staring into his eyes certainly wouldn't have helped. She hadn't felt like this in a long time, and she didn't care for it much.

"Look, I don't blame you for getting hammered. I've done my share of drowning issues in booze. Sam's done it, too. But it's seriously not the answer to everything."

"Is this some kind of intervention? I'm not an alcoholic, Dean. I haven't done that in years. I can't afford to, as you plainly saw back there."

"Oh, now I get it. The whole kissing thing."

"You mean the first of only a few steps that could have ended your life." She hitched her leather bag a little higher on her shoulder.

"It didn't get that far. And I wouldn't have let it."

To her, it sounded like he didn't want to go that far with her, ever. The knife to her heart cut through to her soul, her shoulders slumped a little.

'_You can't leave yet. You're not finished here.'_

'I'm finished as far as I'm concerned,' she retorted.

"At least one of us had our heads on straight. But it still doesn't mean I'm not a threat," she could see the road ahead of her, her escape. She didn't want to be here anymore. It'd been a mistake, finding them. A mistake she was going to rectify.

"So, you're just going to leave again?" he wouldn't let her go. Why? He had no idea, but he knew she couldn't just go running off with the demon hot on her trail.

"This is my decision, my life. I don't owe you anything, Dean."

"You owe me time. Ten years to be exact." He paused to let himself find what to say next. "Just give me time. Give Sam and me the time to figure this out."

"Why?" Did she really want to hear the answer?

"I won't let anything happen to you if I can stop it. Just give us time."

He seemed genuinely concerned for her.

'_Don't mistake it for more than that.' _

'Not a chance this time,' she thought back to the voice.

"Fine. You have your time," she couldn't think of anything else to say as she walked back to the motel.

Sam watched as Alyssa deflated during her talk with Dean. His brother was smooth with bedding the ladies, but he had no tact when it came to handling their emotional needs. He would have to explain the body language Alyssa inadvertently displayed. It was clear as a bell to him she still had a thing for his brother, and he had somehow crushed her.

'Another one bites the dust, Dean. Good move,' Sam shook his head.

"We'll head out in the morning," Dean made sure Alyssa took the last bag of fast food, which was most likely cold by now.

"Fine with me." She took the bag. "Thank you," she closed the door, not wanting to see his face anymore for the night.

Not sure of what had just happened, Dean walked back to his room. As he stepped through the door, he received a smack on the back of his head.

"What the…?" he rubbed the pain away.

"What is wrong with you?" Sam had hoped the hit on the head would knock some sense into his brother, but he doubted it. Dean was dense when it came to women's feelings if they went any further than a roll in the hay and a free drink or two.

"You hit me like that one more time, I'm gonna throw you through that wall," he sat at the table to finish his cold burger.

"You're an idiot, Dean," he sat across from him, not wanting his now stale food.

"No, I'm not. I got her to come back, didn't I?"

"That's not what she wanted. She still cares a lot about you, Dean. She needed to hear that you wanted her to stay."

Dean looked inside himself, analyzing his own thoughts. He had wanted to keep going in the shower with her. He recalled her face as she slept in the back of the car. He couldn't get her out of his head. So there must be something there, right? Now came the real question: was it worth it?

"I do want her to stay so we can protect her, nothing more than that. This life doesn't exactly make room for a relationship. Look at me and Cassie, or you and Jess, or even you and Sarah. Not primo property for setting up a home front, are we?"

"Alyssa is a hunter, and she's not an amateur. She's obviously good at it, or she'd be dead. She knows the life, the responsibility, everything. She's the one person you could be honest with about who you are, and she'd understand completely," he could see something was getting through to him. "I'm not saying you have to marry her, Dean. Just get to know her again. Talk to her."

"What about? Oprah? Soaps?" He didn't want to go down this road again. It had ended badly twice before. What would make it different this time?

"Hello? Did you not hear me? She's a hunter. Talk to her about our hunts, her hunts, hunts in general. Find out what she's been up to for the last ten years."

Dean thought about what Sam said. It made sense. Alyssa was an awesome hunter. He had seen her work first hand a long time ago. And if she's survived this long alone, she was a better hunter than he could ever have imagined.

"Just think about it, Dean," it was time to change the subject. "And what was the deal with the shower anyway?"

Deciding the food was too tasteless cold, Dean explained to Sam about Alyssa's past, at least what she had given up of her past. They speculated about what it could mean, bounced around some theories, and came up with some ideas. Sam was still going with how she could be the positive to a negative.

"If she could gain control of her powers, she could stop the demon in his tracks," Sam seemed excited about the possibility of finally ending the battle, ending their long-time family mission.

"Or she could become just as destructive and dangerous as he is, giving us no choice but to stop her." Dean stopped, letting the idea sink into both of their minds. "I don't know. I mean we'd have to test it out and see what she can do."

"But how? I mean the whole keeping her for himself doesn't sound like something the demon would do. You'd figure he'd want her as tainted as possible, following the whole evil thing. Unless it has nothing to do with sex."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Maybe he's trying to drive her into discovering her own powers. What if he wants her driven to the edge of her own sanity? And he's trying to piss her off so he can find out what she can do?" Sam stared off, not knowing where the thought should go. There was something to it, but he wasn't sure what. "I don't know. It just feels like we're missing something in this. So, how do we test her?"

"Don't know," but there was an idea brewing in the back of his mind. "Maybe catch a demon, have her do her thing, see what happens."

"So she's a guinea pig now? We just keep her around and do experiments with her? Hope she doesn't fail and gets someone killed? No way."

"Well, if you have any better ideas there, Einstein, let me know."

The conversation ended with each of them thinking of what they could do with Alyssa's gifts. With many hours left before checkout, they both opted to catch up on some sleep.

Alyssa, though, was wide-awake in her room. She was in the midst of her own conversation with the voice in her head.

'_You know you're being here isn't coincidence, right?'_

'Yeah, I know. But why am I here? To relive the past? To make up for it? Why couldn't I just make up for cheating on that test in English class and move on?'

'_That's not why you're here and you know it. They've have been hunting this demon for years, practically their whole lives. You're here now to help them. You've come into your true powers, just like Grandma said you would. Now is your time.'_

'What if it gets one of them killed? I couldn't live with myself if something happened to Dean or his brother.'

'_It's a risk you have to take. Besides you know it's just a risk getting out of bed.'_

'It's a risk just taking a breath these days. So, how do I do it? How do I stop that yellow-eyed son of a bitch?'

'_Practice.'_

'Right. Here goes nothing.'

Alyssa had been practicing rituals from several different cultures, winding them together into her eclectic style. She created a circle of salt, herbs, dirt, and stones all designed to protect her within a protective bubble. Her own blood, collected in a bottle she'd had filled at a local blood bank, pooled in the bowl in front of her, sprinkled with more herbs and other charms, as a focal point for what she needed to do.

Sitting in the center of the bed, she called upon the spirits and her guides to aid her in her quest to control her gifts.

She took herself into a form of self-hypnosis, visualizing her encounter with the demon. She examined every minute of that time. What was the trigger there? How did she do it?

She remembered looking into Dean's eyes and seeing him wanting her to fight back. But what in her had made the shift from his anger to her stopping the demon?

She could see those yellow eyes looking into her, showing her the images of the vision again. She tried to shift her focus back to seeing herself changing and wanting to stop the vision, but it was as if she were trapped in time, trapped back in that same moment with the demon. She couldn't break free.

Dean woke up knowing something was wrong. He'd been dreaming of driving the Impala when he heard someone call his name. It sounded like Alyssa.

Sam was up and alert, wondering what the hell woke him up.

They looked at each other, both thinking the same as the other.

"Alyssa." They said in unison as both of them jumped out of their beds racing for the door.

The air in her room was thick with the earthy scent of the sandalwood incense she'd been burning during her ritual. She was sitting in the middle of the bed, crossed-legged, breathing in small gasps, and trembling. Her eyes were open, but she wasn't seeing them.

Sam noticed the circle first.

"Dean, don't cross it," he pointed to the floor and the ritual items laid out around the bed.

"Looks familiar," Dean thought back to the night the werewolf attacked her in the house. It was the same circle he had seen back then.

Dean would normally think she was a witch of the old days, dipping into the depths of hell for demonic powers for her own selfish needs, but Alyssa was far from the traditional old-world witch. She was more of a shaman and an oracle all rolled into one human being. She simply used herbs, crystals, and other trinkets to focus her own personal abilities, making sure to keep out of law enforcement's radar.

"She's doing something. Can you feel it?" Sam whispered. There was a pulling sensation in the center of his body, trying to bring him closer to her. Whatever it was in him, it wanted to go to her. He fought it off concentrating on how to get past the circle.

"Yeah, I feel it," his skin responded to whatever it was with goose bumps running rampant across his body. "So, if we can't cross the circle, what do we do?"

"Try to get her to focus on us. Talk to her. I don't know for sure, but I do know we can't cross that circle. Not yet."

"Alyssa. What are you doing?" if he could get her to answer him, then he and Sam could figure out a way to help her.

When she didn't respond, Dean shrugged his shoulders at his brother.

"Try again." Sam's mind was running through what he knew of rituals, those of old and new as well as different cultures, hoping to come across something that could help.

"What do I say? Step into the light? Don't step into the light?" he wanted to reach across the circle and drag her out, but he wasn't sure if that would cause more damage than just waiting this out.

"Just talk to her about anything. Get her back to the here and now."

"Want another shot of whiskey? Bottle's in my room."

Sam shook his head at his brother. 'He's a lost cause,' he thought, straining to resist the need to just shuck it all and grab her. Did Dean feel the same thing?

"Alyssa. Look at me." He was taking this seriously now. "Alyssa!" he raised his voice, hoping she could hear him.

And she could hear him, plain as day, but finding him was another story.

The images were still playing out in her mind, but now they were becoming more solid, more there. The demon stepped through his vision-self, moving closer to her as if she were again standing before him. He was smiling at her, caressing her face.

'_You can feel him, can't you? He's drawn to you. You have what he needs. Let him in, Alyssa. Give him what he most desires.'_

Her mind screamed back at him, 'I'm not going to do your dirty work for you. You want him dead? Kill him yourself! But I'll be there to stop you, you bastard!'

'_Oh, I don't want him dead. I want him to become what he was meant to be. You can set him on that path. You're his ticket to power. Take him!'_

She realized it wasn't Dean he was talking about. Suddenly it all made sense for she could feel Sam's presence stronger than any other in the room, more than she could hear Dean's voice.

'_That's it, Alyssa. Feel him. Draw him to you.' _

'NO!' The panic of losing control and fearing where the vision could eventually go, she pulled her consciousness back, reining it in much as a cowboy reins a wild horse. Hearing Dean continuing to call to her, she forced herself to focus on his voice. The Demon's grinning yellow eyes burned brighter as she tried to escape him.

Slowly, she blinked her eyes, bringing the room back into focus, her body shaking from the exertion of just sitting on the bed. She saw Sam first. His furrowed brow told her he had felt something. Unable to look into Sam's eyes any longer, she turned to Dean, looking for the same expression, only to be met with anger and hint of concern.

"Alyssa, we can't cross your circle. You have to open it for us to pass through." He seemed really worried, almost upset.

'_Get out of this now before he comes back stronger_.'

She closed her eyes, steadying herself, and inched her leg over the side of the bed to cut the circle, opening the space.

Sam could tell it was over. The pulling sensation slowly dissipated, until it was no more. He was almost disappointed to feel it leave. It was like missing an old friend.

"What the hell was that?" Dean stepped over the salt line, offering her a helping hand.

"The demon, right?" Sam answered. He'd had to fight to stay where he was while she was doing whatever it was she was doing. Something in her had called to him, wanted him. It had taken everything in him not to cross that circle and take her into him.

"What did you do, Alyssa?" he asked her accusingly. "Did you send him smoke signals, give him directions, what?"

"No," her voice was still shaky. "I wanted to figure out how I had taken his power from him. I went back to the other night. But it was in my mind. I was reliving a memory. He shouldn't have been able to come through a memory." She was so confused.

"What did he say?" Sam wanted to know more.

'_Tell them everything.'_

"Nothing. He was just showing me the same vision again. It was just more powerful this time," she was calming down now. The initial shock of everything was wearing off. "I'm fine. I'll be okay." She waved Dean's assistance away.

She was trying her best to gently nudge them back to her room. It was getting harder to keep control of herself as she saw the world around her spinning out of control. She got up off the bed, desperate to put space between her and them, and kneeled on the floor to begin cleaning up the remains of her circle.

"Alyssa, wasn't the circle supposed to protect you?" Sam wanted to know how it had failed.

"It is. I don't know what happened. I guess I did it wrong or something," she didn't want to discuss the intricacies of the ritual. She just wanted to be alone.

Alyssa stood up with a handful of the salt and herb line, but she'd gotten up to fast. Her hand caught Dean's as she tried to steady herself against the dizziness assaulting her. A jolt of electricity went through her body as her skin touched his.

The warmth spread through him again, settling into his heart. It was like being slowly lowered into a warm bath, with the water rolling over his skin. How did she do that? Or was it her at all?

"I'm sorry. I need something to eat," she pulled her hand from his and found her leather bag. After a bit of a frantic search, she found the beef jerky she carried with her. She opened the sandwich bag and broke off a large piece of the dried meat.

Not wanting to touch him again, Alyssa sat at the table, trying not to look like she was avoiding his eyes. "You mentioned something about the whiskey earlier."

"I lied," he didn't want to go that route again.

"I'm not looking for a repeat, Dean. I need something strong to drink. It helps me keep my senses while I'm recovering," she rubbed her forehead trying to chase away the memory of the demon's words.

Sam offered to help, "I'll get it." He needed to get out of there without seeming to run. Whatever she had done had awakened something deep within him, something that made being around her uncomfortable, yet addicting at the same time.

"And if I do get drunk, lock your door," she bit off another piece of the jerky, savoring the saltiness.

"Why? You want me that bad?" he hadn't meant for it to sound as harsh as it did.

Sam returned with the bottle, which was now more than halfway gone, and handed it to Alyssa, taking every effort to not touch her skin, afraid the sensation would return, and he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

'_Behave, Alyssa.' _

'Forget it. He's a big boy now. He can handle the truth.'

She opened the bottle and took a mouthful, slowly letting it run down her throat.

"As a matter-of-fact," should she say it? "Yes, I do. And let me feed your ego even more. I never got over you."

'_Alyssa, you are being mean.'_

'Yes, I am. So what? If I'm going to die at some point in this, then I might as well come clean, right?'

Dean sat on the bed in utter silence. Not one thought would come to him. No comeback, no snide remark entered his mind. He was blindsided by this new development, or was it an old development resurfacing?

Sam made a hasty exit back to their room. This wasn't his history, not his issues. And if things started to fly, he didn't want to be a target. The sun would be up in a few hours, and he needed to distract his mind. He lay in his bed, propped himself on the pillows and blankets, flipped on the television, and let his mind become befuddled with movies and the local news.

The whiskey was slowly easing her mind and inhibitions.

'_Be careful.'_

'Yeah, better ease up this time. Don't have any more dry clothes right now.' She set the bottle down and capped it.

"Had enough, huh?" Dean took the bottle for himself. He unscrewed the cap and chugged a good swig or three down before capping it off for the night.

"Lesson learned," she replied.

"Did you mean it? What you said?" he took his place on the other side of the table. This scene was too familiar.

"Yeah, I learned my lesson. No more heavy drinking. Just a few shots here and there and I'm a good girl," she knew what he meant, but it was better to dodge the question for a few more seconds to give her time to come up with a really intense answer.

"Funny. You know what I'm talking about, Alyssa. Did you really mean that you never got over me…uh, us?" He tried to remember what Sam had said about talking to her about hunting, getting to know her again, something like that.

'_Tell him what you really need to tell him.'_

'I'll tell him what I want to tell him when I want to tell him.' The voice lay quiet.

"Yes," she closed her eyes hoping this was all a nightmare. She opened them again to see him still sitting there, looking at her intently. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" He cocked his eyebrow up, wondering what she was referring to.

"Don't look at me like that," she shifted in her seat trying to chase the whiskey away. It was making her a little too warm, or maybe it wasn't the whiskey at all.

Talk to her, Sam had said. About what? This was going _so_ well, wasn't it?

"So," he looked out the window.

"If you're hoping for idle chatter, don't. It's not like you."

The woman could read minds! At least he was off the hook for that. Now what? Just sit here and stare at each other?

She took off her jacket and let it fall to the floor. It was getting hot in the room all of a sudden. She didn't dare meet his eyes, but she knew he was looking at her.

He couldn't stop staring at her, but he didn't know what else to do. She had hit a nerve in him the moment he realized it was her standing at their motel room in Arizona. And as each hour had passed with her here, she seemed to be getting under his skin, and he couldn't get her out of his thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

It was almost sunrise, and Dean was lightly snoring in the other seat. The fool had fallen asleep sitting here with her. He could have gone back to his room, but she was grateful he hadn't left her alone.

Alyssa quietly said a devotional prayer as the sky lightened. She felt comfort from the sun's rising, showing her the promise of a new day's journey, but what would this day hold for her and her two companions? She could only pray it would go uneventfully.

She left Dean still sleeping in the chair to see if Sam was awake. She opened the room door to find he was already outside packing his and his brother's things in the Impala's trunk.

"Good morning, Sam."

"Morning, Alyssa," he greeted her smartly.

"Something wrong?" she could tell when someone was hiding something. It wasn't one of her gifts, just a well-trained eye.

"Nothing. Is Dean awake?" he thought about talking to her about what she had touched within him, but quickly decided against it. The feeling was still there, low within him, and it was waiting to be let out.

"No. He's crashed in the chair. Want me to wake him?" He was avoiding her eyes for a reason.

Her thoughts went back to last night. Does he know what the demon said? Did he feel it…no, don't even think about it, she told herself. Her inner voice wasn't up for conversation today.

"No need. I'm up," he was yawning and putting his brown leather jacket over his arms, rubbing his neck to get the kink out of it.

"You know, you could have just gone back to bed. You didn't need to sit there the whole time. I was just fine," she resisted the urge to massage the muscles in his neck. She could rub the knot out of his neck, and so much more. She shuddered as the thoughts of what she wanted to do to him went through her mind, and then the cold realization of what it could mean for him settled within her, shutting her hormones off like a flick of a light switch.

'So, no reprimands for thinking of being a woman today,' she sent the thought to her old friend.

Again, the voice had nothing to contribute.

'Guess I'm on my own today, huh?'

Alyssa took the motel room keys to the front office before checkout time. The kindly old gentleman with the graying hair and small spectacles seemed genuinely concerned about a young woman traveling alone with two strapping young men.

She eased his concerns explaining they were her brothers. They were on a trip going home because their mother was very ill. No, they couldn't take an airplane because her older brother was dreadfully afraid of flying. He seemed to buy her story just fine, happy to have done his civic duty for the day.

She got in the back of the Impala, laughing at what had transpired between her and the motel manager.

"What's so funny?" Dean had thought it best to let Sam drive for a while. He had his sunglasses on to hide his tired eyes from the light.

"Nothing. Just enjoying the innocence of some people," she waved goodbye to the motel manager, assuring him she was in safe hands. She chuckled again as the motel disappeared out of sight.

Alyssa had fallen asleep in the back seat a couple of hours later. She'd been enjoying her dream of being on a picnic by the lake with her family. It was more of a memory than a dream, but it was nice to just go home sometimes, even if it was in her subconscious.

Suddenly the dream changed, and she was drowning, sinking ever lower in the placid lake. She woke up gasping for air, clutching her chest. The air had thickened, becoming unbearable.

She glanced at Sam in the driver's seat. He seemed fine, and Dean was still sleeping in the front seat. It wasn't either of them.

"Sam!" she tried to scream his name, but only a raspy whisper escaped her lips. She had to get his attention and fast, so she kicked the back of his seat as hard as she could to make sure he got the message.

Sam whipped his head around to the backseat, wondering why he was under attack. The look on Alyssa's face of panic and terror told him something was terribly wrong. She seemed to be choking, unable to breathe. He hit Dean in the arm to wake him.

"Dean, wake up! Something's wrong with Alyssa," he caught sight of a turn-about up ahead and began to slow the car down.

Dean sat up and turned around to see Alyssa's face pale, her eyes wide with fear. "What's wrong?"

"Need to stop the car," she could breathe a little better, but the same heaviness she had felt before was still pressing on her chest.

He wanted to get back there with her, but she was already trying to open the car door before Sam had brought them to a complete stop. "Stop the car, Sam."

"I am, I am," Sam had to hit the brakes hard before he ended up running Alyssa over. She was out of the car, stumbling around trying to breathe.

He wanted to do what he could to help her, but just as he opened the car door he felt that familiar twinge of pain behind his eyes.

'No, not now,' he begged.

Dean bolted out of the car after Alyssa, holding her up as she struggled to breathe. "What's going on, Alyssa?"

"Same thing when I found you. Can't breathe. The air is too heavy, thick," she knew what it meant. The demon was close, but where?

Sam couldn't see the steering wheel anymore as the vision began. The pain was intense this time, and in his struggle to deal with the agony, he inadvertently hit the car horn.

Dean heard his baby's cry for help and turned toward the Impala's driver seat, seeing Sam grabbing his head. "Can you stand here for minute?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"I'll be right back," he left her to tend to Sam.

Alyssa knew Sam was in trouble and followed Dean to do what she could to help, just like last time.

"Hey, Sam. You okay?" Dean held his brother's shoulders, not sure of what he could do for him. What in the world was going on? First, Alyssa can't breathe, and now Sam has a vision.

"Move," Alyssa pushed past Dean to kneel in front of Sam as he sat in the car. She was going to hyperventilate if she couldn't get her breathing under control. "Sam? Can you hear me?"

"Yes," he tried to push the heel of his hands into his eyes, but it did nothing to stop the pain.

"Want to go for this again?" she had slowed her breathing down a tad, but she was beginning to feel light-headed. She was still breathing far too quickly.

"Just make it stop." Sam groaned.

Alyssa grabbed his face this time, intent on getting to the bottom of this, and fast. "Remember, you have to let me in. Just relax."

Dean could feel the energy in the air change again as Sam's eyes cleared, the pain now gone.

'He had to be right. She was the positive to a negative. But what did that mean for the big picture?' Dean kept his thoughts to himself, keeping an eye on his brother.

Together, Sam and Alyssa rode the vision once again.

_A young man wearing a college shirt was arguing with his girlfriend. Her hate and anger fumed within her mind. She wanted him to die for this. He needed to burn in Hell for what he had done. He would burn for this. The heat was intense. It grew from nothing to sweltering hot in a matter of seconds, and it wasn't stopping. The young man was screamed as his skin began to melt away, then bursting into flames, his mouth open in a forever-etched silent scream._

Alyssa let her hands fall away from Sam's face. It was still hard for her to breathe, but it was manageable, but the pain in her head was steadily growing.

Dean stood by watching as his brother and Alyssa seemed to connect with anything that had to do with the demon. This was just way too weird for him.

"Is this what it felt like when you found us?" Sam asked as he helped her take his place in the driver's seat to rest.

She nodded her head slowly, the migraine pounding in her ears.

"What did you two see?" Dean was feeling left out. Of course, after seeing what she and his brother had to endure, maybe that was a good thing.

"A college kid and his girlfriend. He goes up in flames. I think she's one of the psychics." Sam answered.

"Anyone know where?"

"Close. Very close." It was all she could say past the agony in her head and the two-ton brick sitting on her chest.

"He was wearing a shirt with a college name on it. If we can get to the next town, I'll check it out on my laptop." Sam took out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down what he could remember of the shirt's design.

"Can you make it?" Dean helped Alyssa out of the driver's seat and placed her in the backseat right behind him. He wanted to be able to keep an eye on her in the rear view mirror.

"Just drive." She laid her head against the cool window and closed her eyes. "And no music this time, please."

'_You know you have to face him sometime,'_ the voice was whispering now.

'Oh, sure, now you have something to say. Can't face him now, not yet,' she answered back.

She pulled her jacket over her head to hide from the light and sounds. The pain was getting worse each time she worked with Sam. She felt that the next time she had to endure another one of his visions, her head just might explode.

'Wouldn't that be funny?' She silently asked the voice.

'_Not really,'_ and all was quiet again.

Alyssa awoke during the drive, pulled out her sketchbook, and went to work on putting the most recent vision to paper, bringing it to life with her pencils. Eventually, exhaustion and hunger sent the three hunters to the nearest diner to let Sam do his Internet search for the college.

Their waitress was a petite blonde who couldn't have been much older than Sam. She did her best to flirt with the boys, ignoring Alyssa's presence completely, which wasn't going over to well with her. She was still in pain and in need of food.

"What can I get you guys?" she batted her eyelashes and did her best to make sure they saw her other assets as well.

Alyssa couldn't take it anymore. "Look," she saw her nametag, "Julia, right? Do you want one of them? Fine, take one. But just do me a favor, shake your ass and boobs another time, and do your job. And I'll have the steak, medium rare, with fries, no salad, and a beer, no glass. Got it?" She threw her menu to the end of the table and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms against the world, daring anyone to say something to send her over the edge.

'_You're in a mood today.'_

'She opens her mouth and I'm flying across this damn table.'

Dean was tempted to continue the flirting game with their waitress, but decided it was best to end it now, before someone got hurt, literally.

Sam ordered his food, as did Dean, sending the girl on her way, pouting lips and all.

"What's biting your ass?" he'd been all set to do something to get Alyssa out of his system, and the blonde could very well have been the perfect diversion. Only one problem, he really wasn't that interested, and his sudden change in his thinking worried him a bit.

"Nothing. Not in the mood for bouncy blondes baiting the bad boys. You get anything, Sam?" She wasn't going to admit how much she wanted to strangle that little bimbo for eyeballing Dean like that, not even to herself.

"Yeah, it's not far from here. Weber State University in Ogden. It's a couple of hours North of here." Tapping the keys a few more times, he found something else. "Looks like there's an arsonist in Ogden. Unexplained fires have been popping up all over the city."

"Massive damage, burned bodies? Anything news worthy?" Dean was hoping to get their food, eat, and be on their way soon.

"No, just small fires. Nothing major." He kept his eyes on his laptop. He brought up the university's website, feeling that familiar twinge of nostalgia. School, friends, Jessica, normalcy. It seemed a lifetime ago.

Julia returned with their orders, with less of the flirtatiousness she started out with. She was still looking at Dean, apparently having made her choice and thought she was being covert by handing Dean the napkins, with the top one folded over. Alyssa saw the trick plain as day.

'Why, oh why, do I have to deal with the dumb ones?' She whined to her old friend.

'_Why does it bother you so much if you don't care about him?' _

'I don't care. Let him do what he wants. I'm over him now.'

'_You're a liar.'_ The voice was gone for now, leaving her alone with her food.

Dean unfolded the top napkin, not bothering to hide that something was written on it. Julia had written her name, phone number, and a message to dump his sister and meet her later. He shook his head, snickering a bit at the idea that Alyssa could be his sister.

He should be over there at the counter, talking to her, getting to know her, planning on meeting with her after she got off work. But for the life of him, he wasn't up to it. He kept thinking about how Alyssa would feel about it, which was pretty obvious at this point. He set the napkin on the table, and placed his soda on top of it. He just wasn't in the mood.

They finished their meals, paid the check, and left without so much as one word spoken amongst them or with Julia. Their minds were set on getting to the next job, finding the girl who turns her boyfriend into a crispy critter. They hit the highway and let the classic rock music occupy their minds as they watched the mountains moving along the horizon.

Dean pulled them into the university just as the lunch crowds were hitting their peak. Not sure of where or when the vision would take place, it was agreed they would head for the hub of student activity.

Dean parked the Impala in the Public Pay Lot, and Alyssa paid the outrageous parking fee allowing them a day of parking privileges. They walked the remaining block to the Union Building to stake out the Gallery Food Court.

Just as expected, the place was packed with college students of every shape and size, color, and fashion style.

Dean's eyes were wandering again, which didn't bother Alyssa this time. She'd decided not to let him get to her today. There were more important issues to deal with, and after all, he wasn't hers.

Sam kept his eyes peeled for the girl or the boyfriend, not wanting them to get past him. Seeing the other students, the college life, his life with Jessica, he suddenly felt as though he was slipping away from reality. He missed his old life terribly, but there was no going back to that, ever. He had to focus his attention on the business at hand to keep from falling down the hole of despair the memories had dug in his mind.

Alyssa sat back and tried to breathe normally. The air wasn't as heavy as it had been a few hours ago, but it was still pressing on her.

A half an hour passed with no sighting, and Alyssa had had enough. It was taking far too long to locate the people they needed to find; so she closed her eyes, opened herself, and let her energy do the footwork.

Sam felt something working its way through him, awakening that need again. He turned to see Alyssa's eyes were shut. She was working her mojo again.

Dean had been making eyes at a table of hot young ladies when he felt the needles dancing on his skin once again. He rubbed his arms trying to chase it away. It made him uncomfortable, knowing he was able to feel what she was doing.

Slowly allowing her consciousness to expand, Alyssa was able to pass the mundane energies and hone in on the one they were looking for by focusing on the vision she'd shared with Sam.

The young woman wasn't in the Food Court. They had missed her.

Alyssa pulled back, but not before Deborah, that was her name- Debbie for short, spun around and saw her. She could sense she was being watched.

Alyssa's eyes shot open. "We missed her. C'mon."

They ran out of the Food Court with Alyssa leading the way back to the car.

Dean spun out of the parking lot heading towards the college housing area known as Promontory Tower. It was a few blocks away from the Union Building, and they covered it quickly with the car.

The three hunters caught up to Debbie as she reached the sidewalk just outside the Tower. Sam was out of the car before Dean had a chance to put it in park.

"Sam, no!" Alyssa tried to grab for his jacket before he escaped. "Damn! Does he do that often?"

"All the time," Dean shut off the engine and exited the car. "C'mon."

Alyssa followed behind him, trying to stay out of view until she was needed. She could hear Sam talking to the young woman.

Debbie's black hair was cropped short. Her blue eyes blazed bright against the dark locks that blew in her face. She was pissed about something.

Alyssa noticed the picture she held in her hand.

Her current mood has something to do with that photo, she thought.

Sam had introduced himself to the young woman, trying to stop her progress towards her destination.

"Look, I appreciate the concern for my well-being and all, but this isn't any of your business. Okay? Have a nice day."

Debbie was a smart-ass. Alyssa was impressed, but also cautious. This kid had something in her that was dangerous, and she would have to be very careful.

Sam was desperate to stop her. "Does he come in your dreams or through visions?"

'Way to go, Sam! Right to the point, no beating around the bush here,' Dean beat his brother mentally.

The stranger's words stopped her. She slowly turned around to face the tall man who didn't look like he belonged on the college scene.

Alyssa was on high alert now. Something could go very wrong if she wasn't paying attention. She took up a position that gave her a full view of both the boys and Debbie keeping a hand on the small pistol she kept tucked in the back of her jeans.

"Excuse me?" Debbie wasn't sure if this was some sick joke set up by her cheating, no-good, ass of a boyfriend.

"You've seen him, haven't you? He tells you he has plans for you, that you're special. He promises you great things." Sam had hit a nerve. He could feel it in her.

"The man with the yellow eyes," she whispered. Debbie could only stare at this newcomer who seemed to know everything about her without having spoken to her.

"I know who and what he is. You have to stop whatever it is you're planning. Please, just come talk to my brother and me before someone gets hurt. We can help you." Sam was nearly on his knees, pleading with her to follow him.

"I can't. He has to pay for this," she handed Sam the picture she'd been gripping so tightly.

Sam took the photo and could only imagine how much the young woman was hurting. The picture was of her boyfriend in a very compromising position with a very well endowed blonde.

"Sam!" Dean watched as Debbie walked into the building. "She's not stopping!"

"Where's Alyssa?" Sam was hoping to get her opinion on what to do next, as she was a woman and probably knew how to handle this situation with a little more grace, but she was gone, nowhere to be seen.

"Damn!" Dean searched the grounds, looking for Alyssa, but he already knew she'd followed the girl, and now they would have to go in there and get both of them.

Alyssa could see it wasn't going the way Sam had planned. While he had been looking at the photo, Debbie had slipped off into the building. She followed her, but not too close. The temperature in the building had spiked at least a good twenty degrees.

This kid was definitely a hot-tempered little thing, she thought.

Dean and Sam tried to open the doors to the Tower, but found them too hot to touch.

"She's a fire starter?"

"Yeah, she's going to burn her boyfriend for cheating on her."

"Little Charlie all grown up, huh?" Dean waited hoping for some recognition of the movie he was referring to. Seeing nothing, he went on, "You know. Drew Barrymore? Firestarter?" Not getting anywhere, he gave up, "Never mind."

The doors had cooled enough for them to open them, but the heat inside the building was more than stifling, it was oppressive.

"Where did she go?" Sam was looking for any sign of either of the girls.

"There's got to be what, at least ten floors. Pick one." Dean could see a few students were trying to make their way out of the building. He propped open the doors with a few chairs, letting the heat and the students out.

"Let's just go up. We should run into her somewhere along the way. We can't take the elevator. The cables will melt as it gets hotter," Sam led the way to the staircase, his arm over his mouth shielding it from the growing heat.

Alyssa had climbed the stairs as Debbie had taken the elevator. She wasn't sure what floor she'd be getting off on, but she'd find her another way.

As she made her way to the sixth floor landing, the air became dramatically hotter, letting her know she'd found Debbie's floor. Below her she could hear voices and the loud footsteps of someone running up the stairwell. She knew it would be the boys.

Dean saw her standing against the wall, the number six in blue paint above her head.

"Are you okay?" he touched her arm, sending the warmth through him again. Damn! He looked at her eyes, realizing she wasn't all there.

Sam started for the door leading to the sixth floor apartments. He had to stop Debbie.

"No!" Alyssa moved to block the door. "Don't go in yet. She's seen your faces. I'll go first. If I don't see her in the hall, I'll let you know."

"Be careful," Sam could still feel that deep need within him. It wasn't getting stronger or weaker. It was just waiting, but waiting for what?

"Let us know when it's clear to come in." Dean was reluctant to let her go it alone, but he knew she was right. They'd been seen, and she would have a better chance of getting in there first and making it out alive.

Alyssa slipped through the stairwell door. She glanced down the hall to the left and then to the right, letting the door close behind her. She turned around to see their anxious faces in the narrow window. Knowing what she had to do, she clicked the lock into place.

"What the hell?" Dean heard the lock engage. He tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Alyssa! What are you doing?"

Sam was just as shocked. "Alyssa! Let us in! We can help! Don't do this!"

Alyssa said nothing. She saw the fear in Dean's eyes. Her breathing became labored, as the air once again became unbearably heavy.

She looked like she was going to pass out right there on the other side of the door. Dean struck the door again and again with his shoulder trying to get her attention.

"Alyssa!" 'No, not like this. Not now. I just found her again,' he screamed in his mind.

She closed her eyes listening to Dean's frantic calls for her. She could feel the girl just two rooms away. Her mind opened, and the fear was gone. All that was left was emptiness, a blackness that was comforting her, expanding to smother the flames. She gasped as the chills ran through her.

"What is she doing, Dean," Sam wanted to get in there. That pulling sensation he had felt at the motel was back. It called him, wanted him to join her. If only he could get through the door, he'd be able to satisfy this need.

"Alyssa!" Dean was pounding on the door with his fists. He could see her. He could feel the needles on his skin, only now it was more painful, more there.

She opened her eyes as she breathed in the hot air. Her face turned towards him, showing her eyes had faded to white, just like last time.

Alyssa abandoned Sam and Dean ignoring their frantic calls to her and followed the heat to its source. Two doors down on the left she found Debbie in her boyfriend's smoldering room. Books and papers were disintegrating into ashes; anything made of fabric was beginning to burn at the edges.

Debbie was in the center of the room towering over her boyfriend on the floor. He wasn't touched yet, but she knew it wouldn't be much longer.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, you poor bastard, she thought.

'_Take this slowly, okay?'_ the voice was guiding her again.

"Debbie," she called gently.

"Leave me alone. I don't want to hurt anyone else. Just him," she thought of more heat and the temperature rose higher, bubbling the paint on the walls.

'_Easy does it. Get closer to her.' _

Alyssa moved a few steps forward. "Look at me, Debbie."

"He deserves it, you know. No one treats me like this. The man with the yellow eyes told me I was better than this. I was worth more than he deserved to have," she was looking at the pathetic excuse of a man splayed out on the floor at her feet. His blonde hair was beginning to singe, and his eyebrows were disappearing.

Sam and Dean could only speculate as to what was happening behind the stairwell door. They had watched Alyssa disappear from sight, not sure of what to do. They couldn't go through, and they couldn't go around. They were stuck and helpless.

A moment later, they heard the lock click open. A college student had found his way to the stairwell and was making a break for the exit. Dean couldn't believe their luck. They rushed through the door.

Once inside, they knew it was most likely too late. Dean recalled Alyssa walking down the corridor to the right. There was no one in the first room, but he heard voices coming from the second room on the left. The wave of heat hit him in the face as he stood in the doorway.

Alyssa was mere feet away from the girl, but she remained untouched by the heat. He listened to what she was saying, with Sam staring at the scene from behind him.

"I know he does, Debbie. But not like this. He doesn't deserve this."

Debbie turned to her, "Then what should his punishment be?" The woman standing behind her had white eyes, like a ghost, her brown hair whipping around her.

"He deserves to live a lifetime knowing the mistake he made. Let him live with the shame of what he's done. It hurts much more and longer." Alyssa gently pushed her energy out, trying to lower the temperature in the room.

Debbie saw the two men in the hall. They had tried to stop her before. Her anger flashed across her face. "Men are worthless! They're all the same! And I think they should all pay! Starting with him!" She pointed to the helpless young man begging for mercy at her feet.

Alyssa knew who was behind her in the doorway. She could feel Sam the strongest, wanting to join her, needing to taste her power.

'_No, not a good idea. Concentrate on the girl,'_ the voice sounded worried.

The heat in the room intensified, the curtains and bedding had started to flame up. Debbie was out of control now.

"Alyssa! Get out of there!" Dean was searching for a way to get in the room and pull her out without being burned alive. No scenario he could come up with ended well, so he resigned himself to wait and hope Alyssa could stop the madness of a scorned woman.

Debbie screamed without warning, releasing a massive amount of her power in a fireball aimed at the door.

Alyssa saw the flames heading towards her. She knew she would be safe, but the guys weren't going to be so lucky. The blackness grew in her mind, bringing with it the sense of peace. The flames disappeared before reaching the door, as she pushed her own gifts outward.

Debbie stood speechless, staring at the woman behind her, unable to comprehend what just happened. She'd had no idea of what she was really capable of doing until now, and it scared her to death, and the woman was still alive, not burnt to a crisp.

Alyssa pushed her way through the heat, drawing nearer to Debbie. As she grew closer, she could see into the soul of the young woman. How she could, she wouldn't have been able to answer for she didn't know. What she did know was that Debbie had a good heart. She was a decent human being and deserved to live a little longer.

'_Where did that thought come from?'_ the voice questioned her, but she didn't answer.

The flames died down, the temperature dropped to normal, and the air seemed to clear instantly.

Sam rushed in, stepping in behind Alyssa. He wanted it to continue, whatever 'it' was. He needed to feel more of…Alyssa.

Dean followed his brother a little more carefully. He didn't want anything sparking up to catch him on fire. He'd seen the movie more than once and knew fire was not to be played with.

Alyssa had done her thing to stop Debbie from flame-broiling everyone in the room, but she was greatly weakened by the whole ordeal. She leaned on Dean as he helped her out of the Tower. His comforting arm was wrapped around her waist, and she didn't want him to let go, ever.

Debbie's now ex-boyfriend would have nasty sunburns for a few weeks, a new hairdo, and hopefully, a new healthy respect for women, but he'd be fine, eventually.

Sam had a talk with Debbie about her dreams, her powers, the demon, and what it all meant. She seemed to deal with it, like she'd been looking for an explanation and had finally found one that made sense. Sam gave her his cell phone number to call in case she needed to talk about this or if she ever needed help.

Alyssa was in the back seat, barely conscious when they pulled out of Ogden. They would stop again in Wyoming, in a small town, where no one knew who they were or cared to give them a second glance.

They had just passed Farson, Wyoming, and decided to stop for the night at a little motel on the side of the road. Alyssa was still weak, but the food they had eaten on the way had helped. She just needed a good night's sleep to recover completely.

The last two adjoining rooms were theirs for the night.

Dean helped Alyssa to her room, offering to wait for her to shower just in case she needed any assistance, but she politely declined his attention, closing the bathroom door behind her.

Not trusting her to tell him the truth, he took off his boots, made himself comfortable on the bed, propped up on the pillows, and watched the television. But his mind was far from focusing on the old western playing on the screen.

Sam had taken the room key to get his shower done with first. As he washed himself with the small bar of motel soap, he thought back to the dorm room.

He had wanted, no, needed to get into that room with Alyssa. Something had been pulling at him to be closer to her. But what was it and why was it in him?

He didn't want Alyssa as a girlfriend in any way shape or form. He could see she was still in it deep for his brother, and Dean still had feelings for her, though he refused to admit it. So what was it that he wanted from her? Why did he need to be with her whenever she used her gifts, especially if it was related to the demon? He tried to rinse the thoughts away so he could relax and get some sleep.

The smell of burning paper and hair was stuck in her clothes. They would need to stop somewhere soon for her to do her laundry. She stepped into the hot shower, allowing the water to wash away the events of the day.

'_You figured it out you know,'_ her old friend was back.

'Figured out what?' She continued washing her hair, hoping to drown the voice.

'_How to stop him,'_ apparently the water wasn't shutting it up. Alyssa stopped scrubbing her hair for a moment.

'You mean I can destroy him?' Her heart quickened with the anticipation of the answer.

'_Perhaps. If you can get complete control of it, nothing can stop you,'_ the last words echoed out.

'Nothing can stop me,' she silently repeated.

Dean lay awake on the bed thinking of what Alyssa had been able to do back at the college. She had been in the midst of the heat and come out of it without so much as a blister. Not to mention the fireball she had simply put out in mid-air.

Could Sam be right about her? Was she capable of stopping the demon? He heard the shower turn off, and not wanting to leave just yet, he shut his eyes and calmed his breathing to simulate being asleep.

She opened the bathroom door, the light illuminating his body lying on the bed. He had ignored her and stayed anyway, and now he was asleep. Or was he?

'Why won't he just listen to me?' She berated him, but she smiled in spite of herself.

'_He wants to protect you. And it's not like you don't enjoy the attention.'_

'Shut up. And I don't need protecting. I'm perfectly capable of handling myself.'

'_As long as you're dealing with the demon, you need all the help you can get. You should be grateful he cares enough to stay this long. Any other hunter would have abandoned you in a heartbeat or just killed you.'_

'If I have so much control now, and I know how to stop the demon, what if there is a possibility I could end my curse? Then would you leave me alone about him?'

'_Perhaps._' The voice whispered, as it seemed to melt away into the distance.

For once she was on her own to make a decision, but for the life of her she didn't even want to think about it. After so many years of being alone, of watching men take their own lives because she'd been too weak and ignorant to stop them, she couldn't bring herself to allow her mind and heart to entertain the idea of testing her abilities with Dean's life. But she did, however, decide to test his resolve and see if he was really asleep, and if he wasn't she was sending him out of the room, with or without his permission.

Wrapped in a towel, she walked around the bed to the table pretending to look for something in her leather bag.

The lights from the street outside silhouetted her form, revealing she wasn't wearing anything more than the motel towel, which barely covered her.

His breath hitched a bit in his throat, but he quickly played it off as a part of his supposed dream. As he inhaled the scent of her wafting through the room, his body responded with the familiar ache of desire.

She walked back around the bed, beyond his line of sight.

'Let's just see how asleep you really are,' she thought to his back.

She threw the towel off so it hit the back of the chair in front of Dean, and got into the bed completely nude.

'She doesn't play fair at all,' he thought as he saw the towel fly through the air landing within his eyesight. He was in a bed with a naked woman and he couldn't touch her. Or could he?

Dean went rounds with the thoughts in his head. If she had the power to stop the demon and put out Debbie's fire, then maybe she could help herself as well, but the real question was did he want to take the chance?

He remembered how panicked he'd been when he thought he was going to lose her just inside the stairwell door, and how angry he'd been when the demon had laid a hand on her face.

He rolled over, not sure of his next move. Her long hair lay across her shoulder, the blankets just covering enough of her to tease him.

Sam had been right, of course, but not that Dean would ever admit to it. He did still feel something for Alyssa, but maybe it was more respect and admiration than anything else. She'd been through a lot, as he could see some of the scars on her arm from past battles with the unknown. And she had survived this long working alone as a hunter of the supernatural. However, the idea that she had been unable to get even the slightest bit close to another human being bothered him the most.

He had sought the company of many women along the roads he and Sam traveled. It was the only way he could deal with the stress and loneliness of the job. This woman traveled alone, ate alone, hunted alone, and slept alone. How she kept her sanity intact this long, he could only speculate.

And here she was in a bed with him. It was as if they're lives had come full circle, which brought about memories and something about this very moment he should recall, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

His pride told him to, once again be her first, but the hunter in him wasn't sure if the risk of death was really worth one awesome night with her again.

While Dean considered his options and the odds, Alyssa lay in the bed, knowing he was watching her, wondering what he was thinking. The memories of their first union inundated her heart and mind, bringing with them the true loneliness of her life.

She had swallowed the sorrow of failure every time one man took his life because of her, and now she could feel it all culminating into one huge disappointment as she could feel the heat of his body next to hers. She closed her eyes, wanting the world to just stop and let her off, but she knew when she opened them again, nothing would have changed.

Chills ran across her shoulders, cascading down her back, as his fingers lightly caressed her skin.

"Dean, what are you doing?" She shivered as the sensations made their way into the core of her being.

"Getting lucky," he kissed her shoulder, enjoying the appearance of the goose bumps across her skin.

"No, you're not." She forced herself to stay calm, though her hormones were anything but cooperative.

"Alyssa, think about it," Dean sat up on his elbow, "what if you could free yourself."

"Then I find a way to free myself by myself. I'm not taking the chance of watching you die." She rolled over not realizing she'd be face to face with him, cradled against his body.

She tried to roll back over, but his arm encircled her waist, holding her next to him.

She was desperate to hear the advice of the voice in her head, but it was silent. It offered no guidance, no warnings, and no words of wisdom or direction. Did it want him to die? Did it want her to suffer for the rest of her life with the guilt?

'Answer me!' She screamed through the silence in her mind.

That same feeling washed over him as her skin touched his. It was like sinking into warm water, with the water itself alive and lapping at his nerves. The strange sensation calmed him, erased his fears and doubts.

This was definitely her doing, but he was pretty sure she didn't know she was doing it, and he didn't care. He wanted to lose himself in that feeling let everything go and just dive in deeper.

'Where the hell are you when I need you?' She tried to find the voice that had been her guide all these years. 'You can't want him to do this. We can't let this happen. Please, I don't know what to do.'

'_Just feel, Alyssa. Feel your freedom. It's time'_

'What? Feel my freedom? What the hell does that mean? Wait! Don't go!'

But there was no longer the knowledge someone stood behind her, protecting her, watching over her, for she was now alone to make the decision that could end another man's life, only this man was someone she truly cared about.

Dean waited, hovering above her face, while she worked out whatever was going through her mind, but growing impatient, and somehow knowing that this was crunch time, he made the first move.

Her mind was lost as his lips met hers. She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to her. He still smelled of the fire from the dorm, and it reminded her of the first time they had been together, the campfire, and the stars dotted across the blackness of the sky.

Something more than just her severely deprived hormones responded to Dean, and it was growing stronger with every movement of their bodies. Whatever it was felt right to her, felt like it belonged to her, and she wanted it to engulf her, swallow her whole.

She moved against him, filling every curve of his body. The warm feeling intensified, heating every cell in his body. She was melting into his every nerve, every part of him. He wanted to inhale her, breathe her. She was intoxicating, and he wanted nothing more than to get totally drunk from her.

Reality slammed into her mind, driving away the hormonal surge, bringing her fully into her senses.

"Dean, no. Please. I can't," she was near tears as her hands pushed at him. "I can't do this."

"Alyssa, look at me." He held her wrists on either side of her head, keeping her eyes on him, his body pressing her into the bed. "I wouldn't be doing this if I thought for one second you couldn't protect me."

'Please, help me. Don't let me kill him; don't let me watch him die.' If she had spoken the words out loud, she'd have sounded like a child, begging not to be beaten, for this was as horrible a punishment as she could ever imagine.

She couldn't watch him die. She wouldn't be the one to send him to an early grave because she had lost control of herself. But there was still the nagging thought poking her with what if he was right?

What if she could gain control of her burgeoning powers and set herself free? And what if this was the only way to do it?

The doubts once again swarmed over her, remembering the dead bodies of the men who had previously tried to share her flesh.

"Just save me, Alyssa." He sounded more confident than he actually was, not quite accepting the fact he may have just met his last good time. But if he was going all the way, then he was going to go all the way and hope she could keep him alive.

With the knowledge that this was "do or die" time, she returned Dean's kiss, recalling his eyes during the encounter with the demon, the panicked look on his face as she stood behind the locked stairwell door.

Somehow she had found the courage and strength in him to stand her ground, find her own inner force, and use it to…what? What was it she could do?

Alyssa allowed herself to be swallowed up in the whirlpool of desire he had set in motion. Every inch of her came alive as he trailed his fingers across her skin.

He seemed to stop a second at each scar on her body. She wasn't ashamed of them. Some had become her badges of honor for her hunts, and others were her punishments for failure. As she ran her fingers across his chest and up his back, she could feel the evidence of his own battles. Life had been hard for both of them, but now was their time to forget the past and live in this moment.

Sam woke suddenly. The air in the room was changing. It felt electrically charged. That same pulling sensation was deep within him, but this time it was rising fast and looking for a way out.

He could feel his nerves come alive with fire and desire. There was heat around him, a body of warmth enveloping him, setting his hormones ablaze like he'd never felt before. He was being sexually dominated by whatever this was, and even though he couldn't see who or what was doing it to him, he didn't want it to stop, ever.

Time seemed to stand still. They were together, as they had been so long ago. Spoiling the moment was the realization that it wasn't her birthday, and there was a threat of a death looming in the air. Doubt again made her hesitate.

'What if I fail? What if I have to watch his eyes…? What if…?'

'_Then choose what his fate will be,'_ the voice returned.

'Now you show up! Nice timing,' she bit back at her old friend. 'What do I do? Please, I can't watch him die!'

'_If you want him to live, Alyssa, then make sure he lives. Let it have you, all of you. Feel yourself become.'_

She met his eyes once more, fearful to see the familiar blank look of failure. She bore her stare into his green eyes, and there in the depths of his soul she saw something more than the typical lust and desire he lived by these days. Somewhere, hidden behind his façade of strength and unwavering courage he held up for the world to see, there was the fear of losing her again. She'd seen it during the encounter with the demon and again at the university.

He was taking this risk for her, which meant he still cared, though his feelings were buried deep, they were still there. She chose to make him live, the sensation she'd felt earlier, wanted to have her, and took her, touching every cell in her body, awakening her. The blackness in her mind swelled, engulfing her fear, her doubts, and swallowing her painful memories. She felt nothing but peace filling her, pulsing against her skin, waiting for release.

Dean saw the fear in her eyes vanish and felt his skin come alive with the goose bumps again, signifying she'd found it. Her eyes faded to white, her power unleashed once again.

He locked her in another deep kiss and made her a woman once again, forgetting just how close to death he had been, chalking it up as taking one for the team. His skin was alive with the sensation of thousands upon thousands of tiny needles dancing on his nerves. She was his again.

Alyssa could feel the power exploding from her, waves upon waves of power flowed from her skin, revealing to her the mystery of how it worked. Dean was safe, and she was free to feel everything: the air around them, the sweat between them, and the bed beneath them, every movement of their bodies awakened a new sensation within her.

Sam was standing at the adjoining door to Alyssa's room, his hand on the doorknob. He was breathing hard and rapid, as if he'd been in a fight. Truth be told, he had been in a fight with himself to stay out of her room. The feeling in his gut was clawing at him, needing out. He wanted to get in there, be a part of whatever was going on.

The pull had gotten stronger, almost too much for him to control. He could feel her using her powers, and it was drawing him to her. He needed her to give him something. He just didn't know what it was, and the confusion was the only thing keeping him from rushing into the room next to his.

'What is wrong with me?' The moment of sanity gave him the strength to take a step back and look at himself.

He let go of the doorknob and backed further away from the door. He had to leave before he did something he knew he'd regret. Sam focused his mind and energy on getting dressed. There was bar not too far from the motel. He needed a stiff drink, or two.

Alyssa lay next to Dean with her head on his chest, his arm wrapped around her. She was reveling in the moment of once again being able to touch someone, not just with her heart, but with her body as well. The curse was broken; she was now a free woman able to explore the world with everything she held within her. And as an added bonus, she now knew how to call upon the very thing that had stopped the demon, extinguished the power of a college girl, and allowed her to be with the one man in this entire screwed up world she truly cared for. Dean's rhythmic breathing had almost lulled her to sleep when she heard the door to Sam's room close.

She knew something was wrong with him. She had felt Sam wanting her, calling to her. Her power had sought him out, touching him, revealing to her something intimately dangerous within him.

The demon had said she was what he needed and that she had to give him what he wanted most. The thought of what that need might be scared her to death. She moved herself closer into Dean's side, and he instinctively pulled her tighter to him.

Sam sat on the loneliest bar stool he could find and ordered a beer. His mind kept going back to what he felt behind that door. He knew what she and Dean were doing in the room, and he could feel her power exploding, slamming into him, fueling an already blazing fire.

From what Dean had told him, she hadn't been able to be with a man because of some curse or something that caused her would-be suitors to commit suicide. Apparently, Dean had figured out something about her abilities, something he was keeping to himself.

He didn't know why he was being left out of the new discoveries. After all, it was he who suggested she might be able to negate the demon's powers and possibly destroying him. The anger and jealousy towards his brother rose in the pit of his stomach catching him off guard.

He drowned the thoughts in a second beer, paying no mind to the woman who took the stool next to him.

"Haven't seen you around here before," she took a drink of her own beer.

"Just passing through," her eyes struck him first. They were the deepest green he'd ever seen before. Against the backdrop of her fire red hair, her eyes popped making her simply stunning. How could someone who looked like her live in a one-horse town like this?

"Too bad. I'd like to see you stick around a while, at least for a bit of extracurricular activity," she polished off her beer, the lust blatant in her eyes.

That part of him Alyssa had touched was still alive, wanting something, anything. This stranger seemed to be able and perfectly willing. He wasn't like Dean, always searching for that next one-night stand, but tonight, he needed some kind of release. The pulling feeling may be gone, but left in its place was a desire so strong he could barely contain it.

"Maybe I can stick around a little while longer," he chugged the rest of his beer. He took her offered hand as she led him to the back of the bar.

She opened the door marked OFFICE dragging him in behind her.

"Won't the owner be pissed if he finds us in here?" Sam was beginning to have second thoughts about this little rendezvous as she closed the door.

"Nope, I know him. He's out for the night. Won't even know we were here," she started to unbutton her blue silk shirt, revealing the white lace bra beneath it.

Sam could feel that familiar pulsing through his veins, the fire of denied passion. It was made all the more intense with the need still unsatisfied deep within him.

This was all her fault. Alyssa refused to give him what he wanted, what he needed. She was too scared of what she had within her, denying its existence, denying him access, keeping him weak and needing her more and more, and relentlessly teasing him with the promise of more power.

So for now, to ease the physical pain of his new addiction, he'd find comfort and satisfaction in the arms of another. He pulled the woman whose name he had yet to know to him, kissing her hard eliciting a moan of pleasure from her. If his is what she wanted, then he'd be more than happy to give it to her, but in his mind, he was giving it all to Alyssa.

She fought back with equal intensity, kissing him just as hard as he kissed her, stoking the smoldering embers of his desire.

Sam let the need grow, filling every nerve of his body with white-hot fire. He picked her up, pressing himself into her as she wrapped her legs around him. With no consideration for the property of the bar's owner, he swept the desk clear of papers, pens, even the small lamp and laid her down on the empty space left behind.

"Do you feel it?" she breathed into his ear. "Do you feel it growing stronger, Sam?"

"Yes. I want more," he was lost in the heat of the moment, but something in him raised an alarm. He had never told her his name. He jumped off of her trying to clear his head of the fog of desire blinding him. He turned on the overhead light to reveal the same woman, red hair, blue shirt, but in place of her emerald green eyes was the blackness of possession.

"What's a matter, Sam? I'm suddenly not your type?" she got off the desk, straightening her shirt. "You know, I can give you some of what you need. But that little bitch, Alyssa, is the one who can give you everything you desire. She has the power you want, Sam. She's the key to you coming into your own. You're the only one who knows what you are, but you have nothing to show for it."

"What are you talking about?" he had an inkling of what she meant, but he wanted to hear her say it for clarification purposes.

"You know, don't you? You're the only psychic kid who has no active power. Debbie has fire. Scott had electricity. Andy has mind control. Max was telekinetic. But poor little Sammy has nothing. At least not yet." She moved closer to him, trapping him against the door. "All you have to do is get her alone, take from her what is yours. No one will be able to stop you, Sammy."

"It's Sam," he whipped out the bottle of Holy Water he kept in his jacket pocket and splashed it over her. She screamed as it burned her skin, giving him time enough to get out of the room. He ran for the front of the bar not noticing the bartender's body lying on the floor behind the counter.

Once inside the motel room, he laid down a salt line across the threshold and did the same to the windowsill. It startled him to here the adjoining door open.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Dean whispered. He'd heard Sam fumbling with the lock on the room next door. He was on high alert after seeing his brother laying down the salt line. That meant something bad was out there.

"We need to go, Dean. Now." He started packing his things, not caring to fold anything or check to see if it was even his.

No more words needed to be spoken at this moment. He knew whatever it was wasn't good, or Sam wouldn't be so anxious to run. He pulled on his pants, leaned over the bed, and touched Alyssa's arm.

"We need to go. There's trouble."

She was up now, fully alert, ready for whatever may be happening, except she was naked. She threw on yesterday's clothes, smoky though they were, and packed her things in her leather bag. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she trusted Dean. He knew when it was time to go, and if he was in this big of a hurry, it wasn't a good sign.

They all met at the Impala, Sam already loading his bag in the trunk. She walked around to put her bag in with his. He caught her eye, and what she saw in him stole her breath. Anger, rage, fear, desire all lay deep in his brown eyes.

'_This one could be dangerous,'_ the voice sounded alarmed.

'I didn't think he was. But now, I'm not so sure,' she answered.

She put her bag in the trunk and made her way to the back door.

"I'll sit in back this time. You can have the front seat," Sam opened the back door and sat down without another word.

Alyssa stood there for a moment, not sure of what to think or say.

Dean had come back from returning the keys to the office and pointed to the rear of the car. "Why is he in the back seat?"

"I don't know. He said I could have front this time."

"Okay," Dean pulled the driver's side door open, "we'll discuss it later. Let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The Impala hummed her way through the darkness. Alyssa sat in the front seat, trying to get a handle on what was happening to Sam. The blackness of the night offered her no solace, no answers, so she let her mind slip back to the first time she'd been in the front seat of the Impala.

She turned eighteen that day, and to celebrate Dean had picked her up to take her camping and hunting on a parent-free case. It had been a beautiful summer day in South Dakota. The sky was the blue of fairy tales, going on forever in all directions. The windows were down, the speakers whined with the sounds of the grinding electric guitar they loved so much. She had hung her head out the window feeling the speed of the car flowing through her hair. She had stretched herself across the front seat, her feet on his leg. She inched her toes a little closer, wanting him to know what was on her mind. He had smiled at her, knowing her intentions.

It was a memory she would treasure forever, and now she had a new one to add to it. She smiled against the darkened window thinking of all she had been through and all she had experienced recently.

"So, Sam. You want to fill us in on what happened back there?" Dean's voice broke through her thoughts.

"There was a demon in the bar," that was all he wanted to say about that.

"Did it say anything? Was it following us? What happened exactly, Sam?" Were demons following them, and if so, why?

"I don't know. I didn't stick around to find out. She knew my name. I threw some Holy Water on her and she sizzled. I made a break for it." He leaned his head back wanting to not talk right now. His emotions were in an uproar right now. He was too many things all at once and he couldn't pick just one to run with. "Let me know when you want me to drive, okay?" Sam closed his eyes against the world.

Dean concentrated on the road ahead, but his mind kept returning to his brother. Sam wasn't giving up the information, which means he didn't want to say something in front of Alyssa.

Why wasn't he talking? What was he hiding from her? No more playing around, he thought. We need to get to Bobby's and fast. He knew they had at least another day or so left before they reached the salvage yard. He planned on getting there in half that time.

Alyssa looked out into the night as they headed for the South Dakota border. She wished so much that she could just see the darkness and not know what lies behind it. She wanted so much to be a little girl again, the little girl she was before her mother was killed. Remembering the past and knowing they were headed home, brought her to thoughts of Bobby.

Bobby had been like a father to her for so many years. John had dumped her off on him after the werewolf attack. He didn't want to leave her on her own but didn't want to take on the responsibility of training another kid, so he had taken her to the junk yard. She hadn't been in the position to argue with anyone, as she had to recover and had nowhere to go. She was fourteen, traveling alone on buses and trains, learning from and training with whomever would take her as a student. Bobby reluctantly took her in and made her what she was today.

She had tried to keep contact with him, but something had come up in her own family that required her complete attention. Would Bobby be happy to see her, or would he be disappointed in her? She finally fell into a dark, dreamless sleep.

It was late when Sam pulled the Impala into the yard. Dean had needed a break eight hours ago and was snoring lightly in the passenger seat. He reached over to shake Dean awake.

"Dean, we're here."

"Man, always at the good part. You always wake me up at the good part." Dean stretched his legs and rubbed the kink out of his neck. He looked to the backseat to see Alyssa still asleep. "Has she been like that for a while?"

Sam reached back to wake Alyssa, "Pretty much since we last stopped."

Dean stopped him. "I'll get her."

"Okay." Sam was slightly disappointed with not getting to touch her and annoyed with Dean for not letting him. He left Dean to wake her, slamming the car door just a little too hard. It was late, he was tired, and he needed to eat or do anything that took his mind off of her.

"Alyssa, we're here. Get up." Dean gently prodded her awake.

"How long have I been out?" She sat up and looked around. The yard didn't look much different from her memories, but it was dark out. Getting a bearing on her surroundings, she suddenly realized she was nervous about seeing Bobby again and unsure if she'd be welcomed home.

Doing her best to keep control of her nerves, she followed behind Dean, almost if trying to stay in the background of the scene.

Bobby opened the door, welcoming the hunters to his home, holding a cup of coffee. Dean had called ahead to let them know they were coming and bringing a guest.

What he didn't expect to see was the woman with them. Alyssa. He hadn't seen her in over three years. She disappeared off the map without so much as a phone call. Bobby would have thought she was dead except for the few sightings he would hear about from fellow hunters who had crossed paths with her.

"Hey, guys. Come on in." he tipped his head as a greeting, his eyes widening in disbelief, "Alyssa."

"Hi, Bobby," she hesitated at the door, not sure if she was welcome.

Bobby reached an arm out to her and wrapped her in a huge hug, "It's nice to see you're still alive kiddo. Why haven't you called me?"

Alyssa fell into his arms, knowing she was safe and loved. "I'm sorry. I couldn't. Ran into some trouble I had to take care of, and I've been so busy with things. I…there's no excuse. I should have called." It felt good to be home.

She had left a few months after her eighteenth birthday but had always come back to visit or restock her ammunition supplies. Three years ago, her life changed and she hadn't found the time or energy to call or come home.

"There's hot coffee on the table for everyone." Bobby let Alyssa go and joined the boys in the makeshift dining room. It was simply a table with chairs, nothing fancy. Three large coffee cups awaited them.

Sam and Alyssa grabbed their cups chugging down a few gulps.

Dean picked a cup and took a swig, grimacing as he noticed it wasn't the strong, bite-back kind of coffee he expected from Bobby.

"Holy Water again, Bobby?" Dean finished his coffee quickly hoping for the real stuff now.

"Can't be too careful," Bobby noticed no one was screaming in pain or burning, so everything was good. "Take a seat. What brings you my way? How did you two end up with Alyssa riding along?"

"We need your help, Bobby, with the demon." Sam started the story.

"We have some information that might help us finally get the bastard." Dean looked at Alyssa.

For the next two hours, Sam and Dean caught Bobby up on the recent happenings, the meeting with the yellow-eyed demon at the motel, the girl at the university, and Sam's run-in with the demon at the bar.

Sam did his best to tell his tale without giving too much away, and Dean left out some of the details of his exploits with Alyssa. Normally he's fine with kissing and telling, but this was Alyssa. She was like a daughter to Bobby, making it a bit awkward.

Alyssa filled in on her parts, dodging any questions about her past. But most of the times she sat back and listened to the men talk things out.

'_Are you going to tell them?'_ the voice was back after a long silence.

'Tell them what? There's nothing to tell,' she went back to listening to the men talk.

'_Yes, there is. You need to tell them about it. Before it's too late,'_ the voice quieted down.

Bobby listened intently to what they were all telling him, paying more attention to what wasn't being said. What concerned him most were Alyssa's developing abilities.

He knew Alyssa was powerful a long time ago. Even in high school, she was a serious force to be reckoned with. She never went on dates like a normal teenage girl because she literally scared the crap out of the boys. He couldn't figure out where this was all coming from or where it could be headed.

"Here. Maybe this will help." Alyssa opened her leather bag and took out the sketchbook. "I've been keeping a visual diary of what I see and hunted. Maybe there's something in there you might see that I already haven't." She laid the book on the table and got up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Bobby asked.

"I've already seen those pictures, only in full color, blood and all. I don't want to see them again. And there's nothing more I can give you on them anyway. Everything I saw is on those pages. I need some air." With that, she was out the door to walk amongst the rows of cars whose time on the road had come to an end, much the way her life was apparently going.

Dean watched her leave, wondering if he should follow her. 'See, this is why we don't get involved with women too closely. They go mental,' he thought to himself.

Sam opened Alyssa's book and began thumbing through the pages, staring at the pictures. Bobby sat next to him at the table looking in disbelief at what she had drawn.

The images of what had played across Alyssa's mind were traumatizing in black and white. He could only imagine what they must have been like in color. The last three sketches shook both him and Bobby to the core.

Sam started tearing up as he stared at the picture of his father lying lifeless on the hospital bed, remembering how he had begged Dean to stay around because they were just becoming brothers again.

And then there was the sketch of him in the motel room, the gun pointing out the door, and his eyes seemingly lit with fire.

The last drawing of Alyssa pregnant and holding a baby was too much for Bobby. He couldn't look at it anymore.

Dean had already seen the picture, but he still stared at it hoping to see anything he may have missed. There was still something bugging him about that particular picture.

All Sam could do was look at the drawings and wonder how Alyssa was dealing with having seen all she'd drawn in the book.

He had visions, too, of people dying, but they were always somehow connected to the Yellow-Eyed Demon. Her visions, however, were across the board consisting of everything and anything supernatural.

Dean got up and left the table without a word. He headed out the door, determined to find Alyssa. Sam and Bobby waited until he had left before resuming their musings over the drawings.

"Want some more coffee, Sam?" Bobby offered.

"Sure."

From the kitchen, Bobby continued, "Where did that last picture come from, Sam? When did Alyssa see that one?" There was one aspect of that drawing that troubled Bobby the most.

"The fire starter girl?"

"No, the one before that."

"That was at the motel where she found us. The demon showed it to her I guess. It was his vision for her, what he wanted with her. He said he could make it happen if she wanted."

That struck him causing him to pause as he poured the coffee. The demon knew Alyssa's deepest wish. "What about the one before that?"

Sam turned back a page and found the picture of him on the bed in pain, the gun at the door, the motel's name, and the image of himself with eyes of fire.

"I don't know. She must have done that one before she got to the motel. She said she was hunting something, following us." How could she have known what was in the vision before he showed it to her? Sam thought. That means she already knew about it. Could this be the something they missed?

Bobby came back in the room with fresh coffee, his own ideas running through his head.

Dean found Alyssa a few yards from Bobby's house sitting next to the hollow shell of a 1976 Firebird.

'Not much of a car, even when it had been in good shape,' he mused to himself sitting down beside her.

"You didn't need to follow me, you know." She wasn't in the mood to be coddled.

"I know. But I wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean you did kind of dump us back there."

"You don't talk just to talk, Dean. You don't like that emotional stuff, remember?" If he was expecting her to open up and gush all over him, he was in for a long, quiet night.

"I know. That's why this is weird. Look. When we….this 'us' thing…." He pointed to himself and her.

"What 'us' thing? Is there supposed to be an 'us' thing? I know the rules, Dean. Sex is sex, nothing more. I get it. That's not what this is about, okay?" She got up and stormed off towards the shop. She flipped on the light and stared at the tools on the counters and walls, and the engine parts scattered throughout the place.

'That man has a system for this, but I'll be damned if I can figure it out,' she thought. She missed coming home from school and finding an engine problem waiting for her to solve.

Bobby quizzed her on engines just as much as he did on demons and spirits. She even missed the weekly tests and reading assignments Bobby handed her. The kids and teachers at school gave her the strangest looks when they caught the titles of some of her books.

Dean followed her into the shop, remembering the not-too-distant past when he had to put the Impala back together from the ground up. That had been hard for him, physically and emotionally, but he did it.

'And she looks better than she ever did before,' he boasted to himself.

"Alyssa, I don't pretend to be smart about women, okay. I'm not like Sam. The touchy-feely stuff is all him. I don't know how to do that."

"Then why did you follow me out here?" She was looking over the 351 Cleveland hanging on the engine mount. It needed a lot of work, but she could do it. She could stay here and fix the things that needed fixing. She was good at it, and Bobby could use the help. He could protect her. He knew how to keep people safe.

"I want to know what you're thinking. You haven't said more than a few words the last leg of the trip, and that was just to order food. What is going on?"

She stared off into the past. Did she want to explain this to him?

'_This is not what you should be telling him.'_

'Shut up.'

Looking in his eyes, she remembered their most recent night together, and then the images of the faces of those she had failed flashed across her mind. She had killed them; let them die, because of something she lacked. What was it about Dean that had freed her?

"They died because I failed. I held the power the whole time. All I had to do was use it. Use it to save them." She was on the verge of a breakdown, but not here, not now. She swallowed it back, the sorrow growing ever deeper within her. She couldn't look at him anymore.

"You didn't know what to do. It wasn't your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself," he paused for a second. "I wish Sam was here. He's heard this speech before. He knows how it feels. Alyssa," Dean walked up to her grabbing her shoulders, turning her into him. "If you let this bastard get to you, he wins. If you let him know you fear him, he wins. If you even so much as think he's got you, he wins. You can't let that happen. We need you here. We need you to help us. Don't let him take the fight out of you."

"You don't remember do you, Dean?" she searched his eyes for some sign he knew to what she was referring.

"What?" Confused, he released her, slowly trailing his hands down her arms.

"Remember my eighteenth birthday? The campfire, you, me? Remember it all?"

Dean thought back to that night, but all he could come up with was his being her first. Beyond that, he couldn't recall a thing.

"Men," she said exasperated at how they were all the same. "I told you a secret, Dean, something only Bobby and I knew." She waited for the light bulb to go off over his head.

He thought back to that night, their talk as they looked at the stars, and the picture in the sketchbook, the demon's words of a promise. It all hit him at once. "He promised you the one thing you had always wanted. A child."

"Yeah. He promised me a child, but I'd have to become his whore. Serve the side of evil." The shop felt smaller all of a sudden, the walls seemed to be closing in on her. She stomped past Dean, needing to get out into the night and clear air, leaving him with his memories.

He followed her out not noticing the lonely light bulb flickering. He turned back to turn off the light before leaving the shop knowing Bobby would be upset if it were left on unattended.

Dean turned towards the junkyard expecting to see Alyssa walking off into the night, but she was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the darkness but saw nothing. Alyssa had vanished, and the smell of sulfur hung heavy in the air. Demons.

"Alyssa!" Dean was hoping to see a silhouette of her walking away. He saw nothing, just the shadows of the cars in the moonlight. Controlled panic set in. Where did she go? How the hell did she disappear like that? He opened the Impala's trunk, grabbed two flashlights, and a couple of guns. He closed the trunk and called for her again. "Alyssa!"

Sam and Bobby had heard Dean's first call but waited to see if she responded. Sam heard the Impala's trunk close and knew there was trouble.

Both men ran for the door as Dean called for her a second time. Bobby grabbed the flashlight and shotgun he kept by the front door. Sam accepted the pistol and flashlight from Dean's hands.

"What happened, Dean?" Sam checked the weapon to make sure it was loaded.

"She walked out of the shop and was gone. Do you smell it?"

Sam sniffed the air, "Sulphur."

Dean didn't want to think about the demon having her. 'I'll kill that bastard tonight, somehow.' They didn't have the Colt anymore, so he didn't know how he was going to do it, but he would find a way.

"What were you two talking about?" Bobby didn't know what was going on between Dean and Alyssa, but he was no idiot. He remembered she'd had a thing for Dean many years ago.

"We were talking about the demon."

"She didn't say anything else." Sam wasn't sure if Dean was the most helpful when women needed to talk.

"Nothing that matters right now," Dean gave Sam that "back off" look and headed out into the junkyard. He should have kept her in the shop talking, or at least let her sit in the Impala to talk it all out. 'Why am I the insensitive ass?' he criticized himself.

Bobby and Sam headed in opposite directions to look for Alyssa.

Bobby carefully maneuvered around the junkyard thinking of his adopted daughter. He didn't want to lose her again, not after he just found her. He didn't like to admit it, but that girl had really grown on him. She was the closest thing he had to a daughter. When John brought her to him, bruised up and stitched all to hell, he wanted to kill John for dumping his problem at his doorstep.

He'd had been used to keeping an eye on the boys while John had gone on long or really dangerous hunts. But he didn't know the first thing about raising a girl.

John had told them how they found her, so they checked her out thoroughly to make sure she wasn't a runaway or wanted by authorities. Once they knew she was clean, they gave her a new name, a new identity, and a new life as a hunter.

Alyssa had been a quick study. She passed all the tests he could throw at her with flying colors. She hit every mark at target practice, with guns and bows. She was quick on her feet and even faster in her mind, surpassing the Winchesters as hunters. She even taught Bobby a thing or two about what she could do, especially the dream walking without the aid of herbs. She had a few more tricks up her sleeve, and she had no problem with sharing the information with him.

Those four years flew by at seemed in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it, she was a woman of legal age, perfectly capable of being on her own. She had built her car and had been on quite a few hunts alone. A few days after her eighteenth birthday, Bobby had given Alyssa a choice. She could stay and work with him in the yard, or she could start stepping out on her own as a real hunter. She was always welcome back for a visit, but she needed to get out on her own fighting the evil forces in the world.

Sometime around her eighteenth birthday, Alyssa had changed. She never spoke with him about it, as she wasn't the kind of girl who needed to talk about emotional things, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with Dean. They'd been spending quite a bit of time together over the span of a few months, and he'd seen a significant change in her behavior and moods.

She had come home late one afternoon, stepping light on her feet, almost floating. She said she'd made up her mind and was about to tell him her decision when John Winchester came flying into the yard in the Impala as if hellhounds were hot on his trail. Bobby could tell he was upset about something, and he tried to calm him down to find out what was going on, but John never even acknowledged his presence. He only saw Alyssa in the house.

John had a gun pointed at her head and told her to leave town and never come back. He didn't want her anywhere near his boys. Bobby threatened to shoot him if he didn't leave. He knew Alyssa and how she never backed down from a fight. He remembered thinking it wouldn't end well if one of them didn't give up and step away.

Alyssa's face became as cool as ice as she walked up to the end of the barrel and placed it between her eyes. Bobby's heart had pretty much stopped at the moment, panic threatening to consume him. She had told John that he would be the one who destroyed his sons, not her or any woman.

Bobby chased him off with the shotgun, promising to fill his ass full of buckshot if he ever saw him again. John had driven off with the boys in the car, and Alyssa left town later that evening, never saying more than goodbye.

He didn't see her again for about six months. She would stop by occasionally to check in on him, see how things were going, and to get supplies. Eventually, she stopped showing up and would call him to check in. About three years ago, there were no more phone calls, no more visits. She just stopped being.

She was home now, and he'd be damned if she was just up and disappearing again. He wasn't about to lose her without a fight.

Alyssa found herself in the middle of the junkyard. The sulfur smell rolled her stomach again, but she hadn't eaten for a while so there was nothing to heave up. She could see the cars around her, but couldn't get her bearings in the dark. The full moon was out, but it wasn't enough light to allow her to see a path back to the house.

How far was she from the house, the shop, Dean? She wasn't sure. When the sun rose, she could tell anyone how to get back without missing a step. She practically grew up in the yard and knew her way around fairly well, but at night, after all these years, she wasn't about to take the chance of just wandering around for hours.

Alyssa knew she wasn't alone in the night. She spun around and came face to face with a set of female eyes that were the deep black of a possessed body. Her blonde hair had been set in curls that lay across the middle of her back. Her red dress suggested she was out on the town when she was taken.

'Bet her date is mighty pissed,' she mused to herself.

Alyssa despised weak and self-centered women, and this one seemed as though she would fit that particular bill, except she had a very powerful demon inside her, which put a damper on her plan to slap the woman stupid.

"Well, well, well. So this is Daddy's little woman." The woman's voice was almost as annoying as her bottle blond hair.

'_You know what you can do, now do it, and end this before it can get really out of hand.'_

'Stay out of this for right now, please,' she begged the voice.

"And who the hell are you?" Alyssa needed to give the guys time to get out here, knowing they were scouring the junkyard looking for her.

"Hell. Interesting choice of words. Thought I'd stop by and see what the fuss was all about." The demon walked around Alyssa sizing her up. The high heel shoes weren't meant for the gravel and dirt of a salvage yard.

'Advantage, me.'

'_You're stronger than this demon.'_

'I know that. Her ankles would snap nicely with one good sweep. Could you please let me handle this?' She mentally tried to close off the voice's access to her head.

"I've already met your father. Not much of a looker. I see the poor genetics carried on to the next generation." Alyssa watched the woman very closely.

"Funny, Alyssa?" The blonde hissed her name and continued to circle her slowly, not wanting to lose her step in the gravel.

"Anyway, he's a spineless prick." Alyssa saw the punch coming but couldn't move in time to avoid it. The woman's fist landed square on the right side of her jaw.

"I should split you in half, but we're under orders not to harm you." The demon seethed.

'Yippee for me,' Alyssa thought, nursing the side of her face.

'_You need to get rid of her now?'_

'Not yet, and back off, now,' she screamed in her head.

Dean tried to be as quiet as possible hoping to hear something: footsteps, creaking metal, anything. He sat low for a moment, not wanting to make a sound. He heard the voices, barely there, but there. He followed the sounds carefully, not wanting to alert anyone to his position.

He could see Alyssa, but couldn't make out the other woman? He didn't know where Sam and Bobby were, but he was hoping they were close.

Dean caught some of the conversation as he waited for his backup. He listened to the bantering between the two women, smirking with the comments about the Yellow-Eyed Demon. He heard the woman in the red dress say there were orders not to harm Alyssa, something he found very disturbing. He caught the reference to the demon as 'daddy', which meant the demonic bitch taunting Alyssa was the one who had taken the woman named Meg and Sam. There was a serious score to settle here.

"Be careful little girl. Daddy dearest doesn't want a scratch on his prize possession, now does he?" Alyssa dabbed at her bloody lip with the heel of her hand. "Doesn't matter though, since he's not getting me."

Dean caught movement out of his left eye and saw Sam moving into position behind a stack of old tires. A quick head jerk from his brother let him find Bobby sneaking up on the right side.

'Good, we're all here. Now what?'

"Don't be so sure. Daddy gets what Daddy wants. You could have saved them all, you know. They died because you were weak. You failed them, and their souls are damned for eternity. Oh, yeah, and about that promise my father made to you? Must be a lonely life knowing you'll never know the love of a child?"

Alyssa could feel the heat burning deep inside, screaming for release. The voice had fallen silent to allow the rage to come forth, but it's not what Alyssa needed to stop her. She needed to find the blackness and peace once again.

"Must've been a real blow to his ego, huh? The son of his sworn enemy took me for himself and survived. Guess he didn't have the balls to take the plunge and risk his own death. Doesn't speak much of his ability to be the boss. Does he always delegate his dirty work to the lower peons, like you?"

"Dean has served his purpose. In more ways than one."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough, and screw the orders." The demon went for another punch, but this time, Alyssa caught it in her own fist.

Bobby, Sam, and Dean all stood at the same time, guns at the ready, aiming at the demon woman.

"Don't shoot her, guys. This one is mine." Alyssa's voice sounded confident, sure she could handle the situation. She hadn't even looked at them to know they were there. She found that blackness and calm once again, and now the power was growing at her command.

"What are you doing?" The blonde woman's eyes were round with fear. The demon within her cringed as she saw Alyssa's eyes fade to white.

"Sending you home. You're grounded, bitch," Alyssa felt the peace spreading throughout her body, forcing its way out. She sent the waves through the blonde.

Dean felt the needles on his skin again. He had to keep his wits about him, his gun aimed at the demon.

Sam felt the rush of that need again, and it nearly knocked him over. He had to fight to maintain control of himself, digging his fingers into the tread of the tires.

Bobby could only stare at the scene before him. His little girl had grown up to be someone he didn't recognize anymore.

"NO!!!" The demon screamed and tried to escape the woman's body, but she had nowhere to go. As Alyssa's power coursed through the woman, it was destroying the evil presence within her.

All three men lowered their guns with mouths wide open as they watched Alyssa exorcising a demon without a trap, incantations, or holy water.

Alyssa never moved, and never stopped holding the blonde's fist in her hand. A demon would normally leave a human in a cloud of black smoke, but the one at the mercy of Alyssa's power left as wisps of gray smoke oozing from the woman's skin. It couldn't escape her.

When nothing was left of the demon, the woman fainted, and Alyssa let her fall gently to the ground. It wasn't her fault for getting herself possessed, but she hoped the woman would walk a straighter path after this.

Dean jumped over the hood of the car he'd been hiding behind, stuck his gun in his pocket, and caught Alyssa before she hit the ground next to the blonde.

"Easy, there. I got you." Dean scooped her up and waited for Sam to grab the blonde woman.

Bobby led the way back to the house, never speaking a word even after they reached the house.

Sam put the woman on the beat up sofa near the fireplace, unsure of what to do next.

Dean took Alyssa upstairs to her old bedroom and laid her on the bed, making sure to prop her head up a little on the pillows.

He stepped back away from her, trying to convince himself he wasn't scared of her, just letting her get some air, but the truth was, he was more frightened than he had ever been in his entire life. Dean swiped his hand down his face, trying to remain in control of his fear.

Bobby came in the room with water and bread. "She needs to eat after something like that."

"How do you know that?" Dean took the cup and plate and set them on the dresser next to the bed.

"She just did something out there that looked like it wiped her out. She taught me she has to eat to regain their strength after doing whatever that was. And what the hell was that?"

"Don't know. That's a first for all of us."

Bobby trusted Alyssa in Dean's hands and went to check on the other woman. They had to figure a way to get her home without raising any alarms and involving the police.

"Alyssa, you need to wake up and eat." Dean sat on the bed with her and stroked the hair from her face.

What had he gotten himself into with her? If she could destroy a demon, then did that make her a living, breathing Colt? He wasn't sure if we wanted the answer to the question.

Alyssa stirred, opening her eyes, seeing Dean sitting next to her on the bed.

"I'm never talking to you again," she whispered.

"Why's that?"

"You're dangerous as a therapist," She paused, "but damn good as a sex therapist though. No talking required."

"You're funny." Dean was glad to see she was recovering enough to crack jokes at his expense.

"Here, eat this. We can talk about more sessions later." He handed her the food and water, helping her to sit up.

She made sure to chew each bite slowly and take small sips, and gradually her energy returned, her thinking becoming clearer.

"How's the blonde?" She wanted to be sure the woman had survived the little battle.

Sam came in the room. "She's alive. Unconscious, but alive. How about you?" Sam had so many questions to ask, but hadn't a clue of where to start.

"I'm fine. Pass it on to Bobby. Okay, Sam?"

"I'll make sure he knows." He hesitated for just a moment wondering if he should mention what he'd felt in the junkyard.

Deciding against it and feeling like he was in the way, Sam turned and left the room. Looking over his shoulder he thought, 'We'll talk another time, Alyssa.'

"So now what do we do?" She had finished the bread and water but was still weakened from the exorcism.

'_Tell him the truth.'_

'For the last time, stop bothering me about it. I will tell him nothing more than he needs to know.'

'_He needs to know the truth. They all do.'_

She ignored the voice, unable to do as it asked this time. She was defying its advice, something she didn't do very often, but since having found the Winchesters she'd disobeyed more than once.

"Get some food. And beer. You?" Dean answered.

"Yeah, I could go for a beer right now. Maybe more than one."

"I hear that," he offered his hand to Alyssa, pulling her up off the bed.

"Whoa, easy boy. Not so fast," her head was spinning, causing her to land back on the bed. "I'll just sit here a while until this passes, okay?"

"Okay. Call if you need anything."

"Will do."

'_You're getting stronger.'_

'And you've got a knack for the obvious, don't you?' Her disdain for the voice's constant intrusions was starting to show.

"So, I'm starved. How about you guys?" Dean announced as he made his way down the stairs. He wasn't sure what else to say, for he was still in shock, as he was sure they were as well.

"I'm gonna go take care of her," Bobby pointed towards the sleeping woman, "and I'll bring something back." Bobby grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

Sam picked the woman up and followed him to his truck. He waited until Bobby had pulled out of the yard before going back in the house.

Dean was nursing a beer at the table. "Here," Dean handed Sam a fresh cold one as he sat at the table, "thought you might like one."

"Thanks." Sam opened the bottle, taking a very long drink. "So, now what?"

"That's becoming the common question these days, and you know what? I have no idea what to do now, Sam."

"What does it mean? I mean about Alyssa. What is she?"

"I think she's like the Colt, only in human form."

"You mean she's a demon killer?" Sam thought about it for a moment. "Makes sense as to why the demon wants her so badly."

"Yeah, if he can get her on his side…" Dean didn't want to think about Alyssa's drawing. If the demon could make a generation of half-breeds born with Alyssa's power, the human race wouldn't stand a chance.

"What were those two talking about out there? I didn't hear everything."

"Apparently, the demons can't touch her. They're under orders to keep their hands off."

"Someone's not listening to orders, huh?" Sam took another long drink of his beer, trying to wash away the memory of what he'd felt in the yard.

"Meg wasn't the type to listen to orders, now was she?" Dean took a swig of his own beer.

Sam choked, coughing up the beer that made into his lungs. "You mean that was the demon's daughter, the one who possessed Meg? The one who possessed me?"

"Yup. One in the same. And now I think Daddy's going to be pissed to find out his little girl is in Hell again."

Dean and Sam sat in silence unsure of what to say next, mulling over what they'd seen, what the implications were for all they knew, and what may be in their near future.

Bobby pulled in about an hour later, walking in the house with a couple of chicken buckets and more beer. They all sat at the table to eat, waiting for Alyssa, no one speaking a word.

She finally felt as though she could keep her feet on the ground evenly. Rising slowly from the bed, she looked around her old room, noting that it hadn't changed. The walls were bare, but she could still see the faint outlines of the posters of rock bands she'd hung on the walls after she'd realized she was staying long enough to have a bedroom of her own again. The bed was smaller than she'd remembered but still comfortable. A memory flashed in her mind, and she wondered if it was still there.

Lifting the top mattress of the bed, she swept her hand across the box springs. It took a little bit of searching, but she found it.

The necklace Dean had given her so many years ago was tarnished, but still in one piece. The silver pentacle hung on a silver chain trying to reflect what little light was in the room. It had been one of her eighteenth birthday gifts from Dean. She'd get it cleaned as soon as she could. Alyssa decided to leave the past behind again and walked out of the room, putting the necklace in her pants pocket.

She descended the stairs coming upon the scene of three men sitting at the kitchen table, eating fried chicken, and drinking beer for breakfast. It was still fairly early in the day as the sun was just beginning to rise.

Alyssa sat down next to Bobby across from Dean and helped herself to a couple of drumsticks and a beer of her own.

The meal continued in silence, not one of them able to think of anything to say to start a conversation. No one knew if there was anything to be said, as all the cards were now on the table.

Everyone in the room knew what she could do and knew she was a very hot commodity in the eyes of the demon. What more could be said?

Alyssa was the first to break the unbearable silence.

"I get it. I'm a freak. I'm not sure I'd want to be around me either. But where do we go from here?" She looked from Sam, to Dean, to Bobby and then to the beer in her hand. She couldn't bear the mixture of fear and sorrow she'd seen in Bobby's eyes.

He had taken her in when she had no one else, taught her everything she knew, and had become the father she had been denied.

At the tender age of ten, as a matter-of-fact on the very day she turned ten, Alyssa's biological father had been possessed. She hadn't known it then, but she had learned the truth during her studies.

She had walked into her parents' room to find her father standing at the end of the bed, covered in blood and holding a huge knife. Her beautiful mother lay on the bed drowning in her own blood from the multiple stab wounds she had suffered at the hands of her husband. She took her last breaths looking at her daughter standing at the door with tears in her eyes.

Her father had looked at her with those depthless black eyes. The demon drew an evil malicious grin across her father's handsome face before making its exit from his body. She watched as her father, the man she looked up to came to the realization of what he had done and crumbled. Both of her parents were destroyed that night.

Sitting here in Bobby's house now, she felt the same dread for her adopted father that she had felt the night she watched her life change. He would never see her the same again, and to top it all off, he was in danger, and she had put him there.

"It's not that you're a freak, Alyssa. We're all freaks here." Dean was doing his best to sound convincing. "We're still reeling from the whole demon killer thing."

Sam nodded his head to that. He wasn't sure what to think of it all. They now had the upper hand in this war against evil. They had the secret weapon, but the question remained, what happens next?

"Does that mean I can kill the yellow-eyed one?" A moment of light in a dark world perhaps.

"Don't know for sure. He's pretty powerful. Dean and I poured Holy Water straight on him with no effect. We don't even know if a Devil's Trap could hold him." Sam blinked his eyes a couple of times. He was starting to get a headache.

"Practice does make perfect you know." Dean was watching Sam, noticing something was going on with him.

"So what, you all want to go out demon hunting, now? Give Alyssa something to target practice on?" Bobby didn't like where this conversation was heading.

Sam got up from the table rubbing his head. It felt like a vision coming on.

'Not now. Please, not now.'

The pain slammed into his head with the full force of a freight train, doubling him over where he stood. Alyssa moved to help him, but he waved her off.

"No!" he grunted, "I want to do this myself."

"Do what?" She felt helpless, and a little hurt at being denied the opportunity to do what she could. 'Why am I not affected this time?' She thought to herself.

"Sam!" Dean was at his brother's side. "Sam!" He hated to see him in pain. "What is it?"

Sam watched the scene play out before him.

_A church. He could definitely see it was a church. He could see himself, Dean, and Alyssa in the church. Dean was bloody with an open gash across his forehead. He seemed to be choking. Alyssa's face flashed across his vision. There was a wind blowing her bloodstained hair across her face. The scars on her neck had been opened and were trailing blood down her chest. She was holding Dean against a stained-glass window in the church, twenty feet in the air. Alyssa's face was twisted with evil and her eyes were on fire. _

Sam blinked away the remnants of the vision, bringing everyone back into focus. Dean held his shoulders, looking into his eyes, wanting to know if he was okay.

"Hey, little brother, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine." He used Dean's shoulders to get himself up off the floor, only glancing at Alyssa momentarily before looking away. Was this a warning of what was to be or what could be?

"What was it?" Dean brushed his brother's shirt, straightening it so he didn't look too gruff. Being the older brother was such a hard habit to break.

"Huh, I don't know, exactly." How was he supposed to tell Dean that his girlfriend was going to kill him? He kept his eyes from falling on Alyssa, not wanting her to inadvertently see what he had seen, if that was possible. And at the moment, with what they were discovering about her, anything was possible.

"What? You need to see it on reruns or something? What did you see, Sam?" This wasn't like him. Sam always told him about the visions. Something was very wrong.

"Can we go outside and talk?" Sam gave Dean a "don't argue with me" look and walked out the door.

The sun had moved above the horizon turning the endless sky to a blue he had never seen before. A moment later, Dean closed the door behind him.

"So, why did you drag me out here? What couldn't you say in front of Bobby and Alyssa?" His little brother could be so annoying, and this would be one of those times.

They hadn't been keeping secrets from Alyssa or Bobby until now. Okay, the whole sex thing with Alyssa was still a secret from Bobby, but that didn't need to be common knowledge.

"Dude, I just saw Alyssa killing you in a church." There was no easy way to say it.

"What? You saw her killing me…in a church?" Just once I'd like for one of his visions to have something good to say, he kept to himself.

"Yes. Her eyes were fire, like mine were in the drawing and in my last vision. She was killing you." He rubbed his temples, thankful to have the pain gone.

"What the hell does that mean? I mean…she wouldn't do that." Dean started to walk off, but Sam grabbed his arm pulling him back into the conversation.

"Dean, I'm not making this up. I'm not even sure it will happen. You know how my visions work. I'm shown something that could happen, and they're always connected to the yellow-eyed demon. It's not definite, Dean, but…I don't know. It was powerful. She had really gone dark side."

"No. That's not happening." Why was he defending her so harshly?

It wasn't Sam's fault he got the visions. He just saw what could happen, not how things necessarily ended. It was their job to stop those visions from coming true, and he wasn't letting anything happen to Alyssa, especially if it had anything to do with the yellow-eyed demon.

Alyssa didn't usually eavesdrop on people, unless she was on a hunt, but something told her this was important. As soon as Dean and Sam walked outside, she took up a position at the window that faced the yard, staying just out of sight.

She could hear almost everything they were saying. What she couldn't hear didn't matter, because what she did hear knocked the air out of her. Sam had seen something about her going dark side and killing Dean.

'_Don't leave him. He's the only one who can help you.'_ the voice spoke.

'I was a threat to him once, and we made it through that, but this is not something we can fight. If I turn, I'll kill him. Sam's seen it, so it must be true. I'm not staying, and that's final,' she ordered back to the voice.

Bobby watched Alyssa's eyes fill with fear, as her world seemed to fall apart. Whatever the boys were saying outside was destroying her soul. And he guessed it had something to do with Sam's newest vision.

She could see how much he loved her, but she had to leave. She had already vanished on him once, and now she would have to do it again.

Bobby saw the decision in her eyes. She was leaving again, and once Alyssa made up her mind to do something, no one, not even God himself could stop her. He pulled his wallet out and gave her all the money he had in it.

"Here, take it. It's enough to get you wherever you need to go."

"Bobby, no, I can't take your money." She certainly didn't need it, but the gesture touched her. She would miss him more than ever now.

"I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. You take it now." Tears were on the edge of his eyes. Alyssa reluctantly took the money and placed it in her leather bag. He walked her to the hidden door of the house that was only used in emergencies, and this qualified as an emergency.

"I promise you I'll call you every few days. If you don't hear from me for a week, then something's gone wrong, and you know what you have to do." She hugged him tightly, staining his shirt with her tears.

"I love you…Dad," she whispered. Her words were muffled against his chest, but he heard every word.

"I love you, too, little girl."

With that, she walked out the door and disappeared amongst the carcasses of old cars. After she'd gone, he knew his job, as a father, wasn't done. He wasn't about to let her go off and be demon bait. He closed and locked the door, knowing the boys were still out in front talking. He took a deep breath and opened the front door.

"Guys," he waited a minute to see if they had heard him. Of course, it usually took at least two or three times to get their attention when they were preoccupied with being brothers. The boys continued their banter oblivious to Bobby's call.

One more time, and if that doesn't work, I'm throwing something at them. "GUYS!"

"WHAT!" They turned to Bobby in perfect unison and yelled back in stereo.

"You might want to stop bitching a minute."

"Sorry, Bobby. What's up?" Dean felt bad at having yelled at the man who was always there for them.

"Alyssa's gone."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"What?" Dean ran back in the house looking around for her and her bag but both were nowhere to be found.

"Why did she leave, Bobby?" Sam had run to the back rooms looking for any sign of her in the back yard. She hadn't gone out the front door or one of them would have seen her. "I don't see her, Dean," he yelled from the back of the house.

"Come on, Bobby. Why did she leave?" Dean thought a moment. "She heard us, didn't she? She knows what Sam saw in his vision. Damn it, Bobby! Why didn't you stop her?" Dean was up in Bobby's face. "Why didn't you stop her?"

"You don't know her that well, do you? You don't stop Alyssa. You just get out of the way and hope for the best. I learned that a long time ago, and besides, she believes she's doing what's best for all of us." Bobby was not in the least intimidated by Dean, but Alyssa, on the other hand, just plain scared him some times.

"Dean, stop." Sam was trying to calm his brother down. "What if her leaving keeps you alive? If she's not here, she can't hurt you."

"And what if her being separated from us leaves her open to the demon. Maybe we're meant to stop him from getting her. Maybe she just walked out the door and into his plan." Dean headed to the car intent on finding her. She could be the only weapon they had against the demon.

"You coming, Sam?" Dean started the Impala and put it into gear. "If you hear from her, Bobby, you better call," he called out the car window. Sam jumped in just as Dean was hitting the accelerator, peeling out of the junkyard and spraying gravel on several junk cars.

Find her, boys. Please find her and keep her safe. Bobby closed the door and made sure his cell phone was charged and working.

Wiping away what few tears she allowed to escape, Alyssa headed out the back way of the junkyard. Bobby made sure she knew about the escape route and how to access it, just in case things got hot and they had to run.

She needed to get as far away from Dean as possible, for there was no way she would be the one to kill him. She'd placed his life in danger once, and through some miracle, he'd survived. She wasn't going to second-guess fate and end up being wrong. If it meant he would live, then she chose to leave.

Alyssa kept her car near the back gate of the junkyard. She hadn't a need for it a few years ago, so she had asked Bobby to tow it back to the yard and keep it for her. She found the dark blue 1968 Chevy Camaro in its usual place, the key still hidden under the left front wheel well.

She felt even more at home as she slid behind the steering wheel. She and the old girl had seen a lot of action the last ten years.

'Ready for some more,' she mentally bonded with the car again. 'I've missed you.'

She turned the key in the ignition, her pulse racing as the car roared to life. She put the car in gear, pulled up to the remote-controlled gate, opened the glove box and paused for a moment. Was this the right thing to do?

'_You're second-guessing this, aren't you? _The voice seemed hopeful she'd change her mind.

'Not anymore,' she responded and hit the remote button, rolling out of the junkyard, perhaps for the last time.

She knew Dean and Sam would be after her soon, so there wasn't much time to put a lot of space between her and them as was possible.

The road seemed to go on forever. She secretly kept hoping to see the grill of the Impala in her rear view mirror, but she knew they wouldn't know where she'd gone or which way she was headed.

'_If you're hoping they'll find you, then you need to turn back and let them find you.'_

'You know that's not possible. I'm not going to let either of them come to harm.'

'_What are you planning to do?'_

'You're in my freaking head, and you can't see what I'm thinking?'

'_You're going to take on the demon and get yourself killed.'_

'Better I die fighting than end up killing anyone else. You up for a suicide mission?'

'_Not really. You can stop him, but you still need their help. You shouldn't be doing this on your own.'_

'Hope you have a nice place to go after I die. Hate to think of you floating around looking for some other poor sap to torture.'

Alyssa enjoyed the silence in her mind, the music on the radio, and the expansive road before her.

She hadn't told Bobby where she was going; she knew he'd send the boys to catch her a few minutes after her own departure. He was just good to her that way. She loved him dearly and would die to protect him, and in order to protect all of them, she would have to set out to kill the demon or die trying.

Dean was sick and tired of people getting noble and leaving him when they were in trouble. They had been driving for two days straight and there was no sign of Alyssa. He had the pedal to the metal, the windows rolled down, and the music blasting as high as possible.

With AC/DC on the stereo he'd had the motivation to keep the speedometer topped out for as long as needed. Bobby didn't know which way she had gone, so they had taken a stab at heading east.

Sam dared the wrath of the driver and turned the music down to talk to his brother.

"So, we're just driving and hoping we bump into her?" Sam wasn't sure how to go about finding her, or even if they should.

"Yeah, that's the plan we have right now, at least until something better comes along. It'd be easier if you could just have a vision and let me know where she went."

"I know. I wish it worked that way, too." Sam looked at the expanse of road that lay ahead of them. "Dean, I'm sorry. I should've handled the vision better than I did. I just didn't know…"

"It's okay, Sam. I get it. I'd have probably done the same thing. Call Bobby and see if he's heard anything, yet."

"Dean, he'll call us if he hears anything."

"I know, but humor me."

The phone rang for what seemed like forever before he answered. Bobby had been on the other line with Alyssa. She had called to let him know she was okay, but she hadn't given him her location. Sam had an idea and asked Bobby for her number and phone service.

He contacted the cell phone company and pretended to be Alyssa's father. He claimed that she had been missing for a few days and was on medication. He begged for their help in tracking down where the last call had originated.

"Got it. Yes, thank you so much. You've been a great help." Sam ended the call. "Got her. The last phone call came from Malden, Missouri. We missed her by a couple of hours on I-90."

"Damn." Dean turned the car around not bothering to use the brakes and headed back to the interstate junction they had passed three hours ago. 'You're not getting away that easily,' he thought.

Sam wasn't sure how to bring up something that had been bothering him since Alyssa's arrival in their lives. So, he just came out with it.

"Dean, why are we chasing her down? Why do you want to find her so bad?" Sam waited to see if Dean would answer him.

"I don't know. I don't know if it's because she's the best thing we have as a weapon against the demon, or…" He cut off not wanting to think that maybe there was something more.

"Or…what?" Sam waited again.

"Or, nothing. We just need to find her. I don't want her on the demon's side. Okay?" Dean turned the music back up. Conversation over.

Sam sat back and watched the scenery speed by.

Alyssa couldn't eat another bite. She was stuffed. Missouri was always her favorite state. The people were nice, the weather was pretty good, and the food was awesome. She'd been here for a couple of days now and had made herself at home, but she really missed South Dakota and all she had left behind.

She thought about her phone call to Bobby. He'd been so happy to hear that she was okay. They had talked a while about the car, the shop, and him. And no, she wasn't going to tell him where she was, but she promised to call in another two days.

She was exhausted from the long nights of driving and the long days holed up in motel rooms. It was all starting to take a toll on her body and mind.

Alyssa had reserved a motel room a couple of miles up the road. She'd been there before and knew the proprietor well. She'd done a job for him some years back, and he had never forgotten it. The room was on the house; a favor returned she just couldn't pass up.

She pulled into the motel parking lot, putting the car right outside her room, remembering the rule. The key to the room was one of those obnoxious key-card things, making her miss the days of real keys. She was just about on her last nerve with the key-card when the door clicked open.

The excruciating pain drove her to her knees just inside the door. Her head felt as if it were being split open, blinding her. She knew the room layout enough to make it to the bed with only one bruise on her leg from the television stand.

What the hell was this? She never had headaches like this. Sam did. The other psychic children had headaches. She wasn't like them.

She couldn't see her room anymore.

_She was in a church. Sam was next to her in a tuxedo, but he wasn't Sam. His eyes were lit with fire. Dean was screaming for Sam to help him as he was pinned to a stained-glass window twenty feet above the church floor. He was bleeding profusely from a wound on his forehead. She looked down at herself and saw blood on the white dress she wore. She reached up to touch her scars. They were open and bleeding again. Sam spoke to her, "Welcome home."_

Her head was spinning as the vision ended, and she could smell the sulfur as it burned her throat. She stumbled blindly to the bathroom and had barely made it to the toilet when she vomited up the breakfast and dessert she'd consumed earlier.

After heaving her guts out for what must have been an eternity, Alyssa made her way to the bed and fell onto the cool pillows. She felt as if she were on fire.

It was a two-day drive that took a day and a half with Dean at the wheel. The brothers pulled into Malden, Missouri with a few hours left before sunset. The town wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. They had a Wal-Mart, a McDonald's, and even a Taco Bell.

They drove around looking for motels, stopping at each one, and asking the managers if they had seen someone matching Alyssa's description.

By the fourth motel, Sam was beginning to think they'd missed her again.

Dean caught sight of a motel sign partially covered by tree branches. He pulled in to the parking lot and saw the Camaro. Bobby said she'd be driving a blue '68 Camaro.

Sam checked the license plate number Bobby had given them with the one on the car. It matched. It was hers. The feeling inside him awoke with the anticipation of finding her again, hoping for something, waiting for her.

Dean backed the Impala into the parking space next to the Camaro.

"You girls behave now," he spoke out loud to the cars.

"I'll go talk to the manager and see if he's seen her," Sam was always better at talking to people anyway.

Dean was checking out the motel room windows that were right in front of the car trying to hear inside. Since she knew the rule about parking the car as close as possible, she had to be in one of these two rooms, number thirteen or number fifteen. He'd been trying to hear any sounds behind the doors when Sam came back with a strange look on his face.

"Well, he says she's been here, but that she's not anymore."

"He's lying, we know that. She wouldn't leave her car here." Dean was listening to the door to room thirteen. He jumped back as the door was jolted by a hit from something on the other side.

"Alyssa!" He yelled through the door.

"Dean," her voice was weak, barely audible.

"Alyssa, open the door." He waited for the door to click. "Alyssa, open the door." He didn't want to sound frantic, but it was hard not knowing what was happening behind door number thirteen.

A few seconds later there was a click, but the door only opened a hair. He tried to open it further, but Alyssa was on the floor behind it. He slowly pushed her with the door until he could squeeze himself in. He let it close with Sam on the other side so he could get Alyssa out of the way. He laid her on the bed and opened the door for Sam.

"What's wrong with her, Dean?"

"I don't know. She's burning up, though."

"We need to cool her down." Sam went into the bathroom to start the water for a bath. He grabbed the hand towels, soaked them in the cool running water, and brought them out to Dean. "Here, pat her down with these. At least it'll get her started until the tub fills up enough."

Dean took the wet cloths and sat on the bed with Alyssa.

'What the hell is happening to you? Why'd you leave? We could have helped you.'

There were so many questions that may not get answers now that something seemed terribly wrong with her. He gently patted her forehead and cheeks and was about to pat down her neck when he noticed her scars were red and inflamed, as if they were infected.

"The water's ready." Sam returned from the bathroom. "Do you want to undress her or just put her in like that?" Sam was a bit uncomfortable with this part.

"Let's get her jeans and shirt off. That'll get the water on her skin at least."

Sam held her, doing his best to ignore the sensations inside of him, while Dean took off her shirt and removed her jeans. With her down to the bare minimum of clothing, Dean began to remove his own clothes.

"What are you doing, Dean?" Sam didn't see this as being the best time for getting naked with her.

"Dad used to do this with us when we had fevers. It was safer than just leaving us in the tub alone."

"Really? He'd jump in the tub when we had fevers like this?" Sam was astounded. He didn't remember his father doing anything of the kind.

"Yeah. I'll get in and you lower her down onto me. Okay?" Dean headed for the tub wearing only his boxer briefs.

This should be interesting, Sam thought to himself.

"This water's kind of cold, Sam. It needs to be a lot warmer," Dean yelled from the bathroom.

"Sorry." Sam answered back, patting Alyssa with the cool towels. He too noticed the scars on her neck and thought back to his vision of her in the church. Could this mean it was coming true?

The water ran for a couple of minutes before Dean announced that he was ready. Sam easily lifted Alyssa off the bed maneuvering her carefully into the bathroom. The woman weighed nothing, but she could fight like a heavyweight-boxing champ.

Dean was sitting in the water waiting for him. Sam lowered Alyssa between his brother's legs, laying her head on his chest.

Her breath caught as her hot skin hit the cooler water. Dean cupped the bath water in his hands and let it fall over every inch of her skin, from her neck down.

"Call Bobby. Let him know what's going on. See if he knows anything or if he knows of a doctor who can help her."

"I'm on it." Sam left the two of them in the tub to call their old friend.

Bobby let out the breath he'd been holding since the boys took off after Alyssa. They found her, but there was something else wrong now. That was okay, though, at least they were with her, and he knew she was in good hands.

Sam had called asking his advice about what they needed to do for Alyssa. Apparently she was burning up with some kind of fever. They didn't see anything else wrong with her, except her scars looked infected. Bobby thought it was strange because her scars had been healed for years.

Bobby assured Sam that he would send some help their way. He made a few phone calls and cashed in on some owed favors.

There was a doctor in Branson, Missouri, who owed Bobby his life. The appreciative doctor took the rest of the day off and was on his way to the boys and Alyssa without hesitation.

Alyssa's fever hadn't broken even after twenty minutes of soaking in the water. The bath had taken the heat out of her for a while, but she spiked up again. Dean wasn't sure about what to do next.

Bobby called Sam back to let him know a doctor was on the way. He gave them the man's name and description and reminded them to offer the doctor a shot of holy water before letting him anywhere near Alyssa.

With time on their hands until the good doctor arrived, Dean went to get food for him and his brother.

Dean had left Sam in charge of making sure Alyssa didn't die on them. He hadn't thought of what he would do if he were alone with her, but here she was, weak, helpless, and dependent on him. He paced the floor hoping Dean would return soon. He didn't know if he could control himself for too much longer with the need still awake within him, urging him to get closer to her, to touch her.

Alyssa moaned in her feverish sleep. Sam sat on the bed next to her, stroking her forehead with a damp cloth.

"Hey, there," he assured her she wasn't alone. "It's me, Sam. Dean ran out to get food. He'll be back." Being this close to her was intoxicating, almost giving him an alcoholic buzz.

"Sam?" She tried to open her eyes, but the room kept spinning. Best to keep them closed.

_Touch him, Alyssa. Touch him and feel the power_.

"Oh, God," she rolled over grabbing her head. "No, go away."

"What's wrong?" he touched her arm, the shock ran through his fingers reaching into the depths of his need, setting it on fire once again.

"No, Sam. Don't." she was trying to move away from him, unable to handle the overwhelming surge of whatever it was she had felt.

"Alyssa, what's happening?" he could feel it drawing him to her again. He needed to be closer to her. He didn't care what it was; he only wanted more of it.

_Feel it all, Alyssa. Give it to him and you'll have so much more._

She was desperately trying to put as much space between herself and Sam as was possible. The nausea crashed over her again and again as she made her way to the other side of the bed.

Unable to see where she was going, Alyssa fell on the floor and retreated to the darkened corner. There she waited for the pain, the nausea, and the growing need to be with Sam to pass.

He couldn't understand what was happening to him. The air in the room had warmed considerably, and the vicious need for her was almost overpowering, but he consciously made the effort to sit down on the chair across the room from her.

Dean would be back soon, so it was best to sit down and wait for him to return. He was confused as to what was happening to him. She was Dean's for sure, but why did the jealousy burn within him? Why did he want her so much at this moment?

Sam stared at Alyssa's body scrunched up in the corner as if she were trying to melt into the wall. His senses were returning to normal, the need was quieted for now. His time would come; somehow he knew it would.

There was a loud pounding on the room door. Sam grabbed a gun and held it behind his back. He took a moment to look through the peephole in the door silently laughing at the sight before him.

Sam opened the door to see Dean holding half a burger in his mouth, three bags of fast food in his left hand, and steadying a drink tray with three tall sodas in his right.

Dean glared at his brother until he took the drink tray. Following behind him into the room, he expected to see Alyssa still on the bed, hopefully awake and alert. To his horror, he saw her on the floor, huddled in a corner of the room, close to unconsciousness.

"What happened, Sam?" He threw his burger in one of the bags and tossed them to Sam. "Alyssa," he touched her arm expecting to feel the same warm feeling spread through him, but there was no warmth, just her hot skin.

She flinched when she felt a hand touch her afraid it was Sam again. She turned her aching head to see Dean's face close to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck falling into him, allowing him to pick her up and place her back on the bed.

"I didn't do anything to her, Dean. I swear it. She woke up, I sat next to her, touched her arm, and she just…." he didn't know how to describe the rest.

"Just what?"

"She ended up over there on her own. I sat back down here and made sure she didn't hurt herself. That's all." He didn't think Dean was accusing him of anything, but he felt guilty nonetheless.

"Well, after the doc gets here and does his thing, we should think about getting a room for us for a couple of nights."

"Sure. First thing."

Sam and Dean sat down to eat their meals in silence. Every moan, every groan Alyssa made caused another worry line to etch itself across Dean's forehead. Something was happening between Alyssa and his brother, but he couldn't be sure of what, not yet at least. He'd have to keep a closer eye on both of them until he figured this out.

A knock on the door startled them out of their thoughts. On instinct, they pulled their guns from the backs of their pants. Dean remembered the holy water, sticking it into his back pocket. Both took their positions on either side of the door.

The peephole offered a look at their visitor behind the door. He wore glasses and had graying hair, but Sam couldn't see much else of him.

They knew the routine; Sam would open the door and invite their guest in, and Dean would come up behind him. Sam held the gun just behind the door as he opened it.

"Can I help you?" Sam put on his most polite manners. He quickly sized up the visitor.

He must have been around the same height as Dean. His hair was a salt and pepper color, with his temples completely gray, which put his age somewhere between fifty and sixty years. Bobby had described him perfectly. He wore a black three-piece business suit and carried the traditional doctor's bag.

"I'm Dr. Perkins. Bobby sent me. You must be his son, Sam. He said you'd be the really tall one."

"Thanks for coming, Dr. Perkins." Apparently Bobby had played them off as his children.

Sam opened the door to let the doctor into the room. He immediately grabbed the bag and held the gun chest level to the doctor.

Dean came up behind him without missing a beat, a gun pointed at the back of his head.

"Hey, Doc. You don't mind if we do our own examination first, do you?" Dean threw the bottle of holy water to Sam.

"Here, take a swig of this," Sam opened the bottle and gave it to the nervous doctor.

"Bobby told me there'd be some kind of test I had to take to get in here. I was hoping for a trivia question, really."

'The doc has a sense of humor.' thought Dean.

Dr. Perkins took a couple of swallows of the Holy Water, and then handed it back to Sam. They waited a few seconds to see if anything happened. Nothing. They lowered their guns.

Dean clapped Dr. Perkins on the back. "Nice to meet you, doc," and led him to Alyssa lying on the bed.

About an hour later, Dr. Perkins was finished with his examination of Alyssa. Without blood work and other types of test, he was only guessing at what was going on in her body.

"Based on the condition of the scars and her symptoms, I say she's got a blood infection. She'll need to take antibiotics for two weeks. She should be fine, but if she doesn't show some improvement in 72 hours, you'll be looking at an emergency room visit." Dr. Perkins gave Dean a prescription slip for the medication. "Get that filled and make sure she takes every single one."

"Got it. Thanks, doc. We owe you one now. You ever need us for anything, let Bobby know, and he'll get the message to us."

They all shook hands farewell, and Dean escorted the doctor out of the room, making sure he drove off out of sight before going back in the room.

"Here," he handed the piece of paper to Sam. "You go do this."

"Sure, no problem." Sam was always being dumped with the gopher work, but this time however, he didn't mind. Being alone with Alyssa was going to get him in more trouble than he wanted.

Dean sat back nursing his soda, watching Alyssa breathe. If she pulled out of this, he was going to seriously kick her ass. It was bad enough she had gotten under his skin, but now she's running off when things hit the fan.

"Women," he huffed.

"What about us?" she whispered.

Dean hadn't expected the response but was at least relieved to see was coming around and seemed to be lucid. "You're hard-headed, stubborn, and completely irrational," he helped her sit up a bit more on her pillow.

"Sounds like you. Guess that means you'll make a great wife someday," she grabbed a hold of his arm, steadying herself against the spinning sensation in her head.

It was there again. The warmth spread from his arm to his chest. He took it as a good sign that she was recovering.

"You shut your mouth, woman," the smile on her face was a relief to him.

"I'd say make me, but I'm not quite up for that right now," she kept her gaze focused on his eyes. As long as her vision wasn't moving, the nausea was kept at bay.

Sam arrived back at the motel room having filled the prescription and procuring another room. He could see Alyssa was improving; at least she was awake. Avoiding eye contact with her, he handed the medicine bottle to Dean.

"I've got a room right above this one. If you need anything…"

"I'll call you." This was awkward, talking to his brother like this, but he wasn't sure of what he should think or feel about anything. The whole situation was foreign to him. "Thanks for this, Sam," he shook the bottle of pills. "You get some sleep. I'll stay here with her."

"Okay. See you two in the morning," Sam waved a short bye to Alyssa, which she returned with her own.

After Sam had gone upstairs and Dean could hear his footsteps above them, he sat on the bed next to Alyssa.

"You have to sit up and start taking these," he unscrewed the bottle and shook out one of the white pills.

"Do I have to?" she whined as she slowly lifted her head to take the pill and the soda he offered with which to wash it down.

"Just take the damn pill," he was still pissed at her for ducking out on them in the first place.

"Guess I'm still in trouble, huh?" she swallowed the pill chasing it with the stale soda.

"You have no idea," he gave her his best 'ass-kicking yet to come' look.

"Yeah, I think I do," her heart raced out of control when he looked like that. The green in his eyes deepened when he was angry, or burning with desire. She wasn't sure which one she preferred right at the moment, but she knew which one was going to be first in line. "So, let's hear it."

"Hear what? How stupid you were? How irresponsible it was to just run off like that?"

"So, you're saying I was stupid and irresponsible," the room wasn't spinning so much now. The soda had given her body something else to do besides cause her grief.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He got up, pacing around the bed, working off his anger. "Why'd you just leave like that? No matter what happens, what Sam sees, or what we know, you don't just take off on your own trying to be some kind of solo hero!"

She thought about saying something about how she was an adult and didn't need his permission to do what she wanted, but she thought it was best to let him have his moment in the sun. She knew the older sibling complex personally.

"I'm sorry for leaving you guys like that."

'_Now was that so hard to do?'_ the voice returned.

'Where the hell were you when I needed you to get _him_ out of my head?' There was no answer.

"You're sorry? Do you realize that if we hadn't found you, you might be dead right now? What if the demon had gotten to you before we did?"

The whole trip to find her was a blur. They had only stopped to fill up the gas tank and get food. Finding her was all he could think of as they traveled the roads.

"Look, I said I was sorry. I know I acted stupid. Point made, okay? It won't happen again. I promise."

"I know it won't. You're not leaving my sight…our sight," he corrected. He could just throttle her right now.

Tearing her eyes away from his blazing green orbs, she saw the bag of fast food sitting on the table. "Is that mine? I'm hungry."

"Well, I guess that's progress. The food's cold though."

"There's a microwave in the office. Tell Larry it's for me, and you'll have free access."

"Friendly with Larry, are we?" The first stirrings of jealousy were new to him.

"I did a job for him a few years back. Let's just say he's repaying a debt," she smiled. "And if I didn't know better, Dean Winchester, I'd say you were just a little jealous."

"Am not," and he was out the door before she could say another word.

With Dean gone, she opted to have a little talk with the voice in her head. After all, it was always telling her what to do, where to go, what to say. It was her turn to demand obedience.

'What's happening to me, now? And no cryptic crap. Give it to me straight.'

'_He's trying to drive you to use your powers. It's all linked to Sam somehow. As if you two are supposed to become one, increasing your powers, but leading you to darkness.'_

'Did you look this up in a book somewhere and just decide to tell me?'

'_When he was here, he left a thought.'_

'Great he's leaving garbage in my head now. How much room is in there? Should I start charging rent?'

After a very drawn out conversation with the motel proprietor, Larry, Dean was able to escape back to the room with Alyssa's now nuked burger and fries.

"Not fresh off the grill, but at least it's hot," he handed her the bag.

"Thanks. How's Larry?" she dug into the bag, her appetite returning rather quickly.

"Larry is going in for prostate surgery next week, as well as a colonoscopy. Other than that, he's just fine. Very appreciative of your handling of his spook, so he put it."

"I take you two hit it off right from the start, huh?" she smiled knowing Larry was quite the talker. "I'll have to stop by and wish him good health before we leave."

Finishing the mildly tasteless reheated combo meal, she settled down to watch the movie Dean had set on the television, something about giant spiders, a mall, and lots of screaming people.

He had nestled in the bed next to her, content with just being there to keep an eye on her. A few minutes into the movie she was out, her breathing steady. He relaxed knowing she was going to be fine and let the droning of the boring under-budget B-movie lull him to sleep.

Scratching noises, like something trying to get in.

He woke with a start, not knowing where the noises were coming from and forgetting where he was for just a moment. Rubbing the sleep from his face, he saw Alyssa at the end of the bed drawing in her sketchbook like a mad woman. She had apparently showered and dressed herself in a tank top and underwear while he had slept.

How long had he been out? Now what's up with her? He thought through the sleepiness still lying heavy in his head. Dean moved in behind Alyssa placing a hand on her back. Her fever seemed to be better. He looked at his watch. It was just after three in the morning.

"I already took the next pill. I didn't want to wake you," she didn't even look at him. She was intent on getting the vision out on paper. Dean rubbed her back gently while she drew letting the familiar and welcome feeling spread through him.

Her vision was eerily similar to the one Sam had suffered through at Bobby's. On the center of the paper was a church; every detail of it was there, even the steeple and bell. In the top right corner was a depiction of Dean bleeding and it looked like choking. Behind his head was the same stained glass window Sam had seen. Sam was in the bottom left corner, his eyes blazing with fire. In the top left corner of the paper, Dean could see the entire scene inside the church. Alyssa was standing inside the church dressed in a long gown, her arm raised. Dean looked in the direction of her arm and saw himself up against the window again, completely off the ground.

Alyssa stopped drawing, looking at the picture of the future, her future, their future. All the fear and rage built to the point of boiling over. She threw the book across the room hitting the wall and let out an angry, throat-scorching scream.

Dean pulled her to him before she completely lost control. The comforting warmth he was accustomed to became pure heat assaulting him, spreading through his body, lighting him up inside. It took all he had to suppress the fire long enough to handle her.

'Why is this happening to me? I don't want this, any of it. Why the hell was I chosen for this crap!' She waited for an answer but there was nothing but silence.

Dean could here footsteps coming from the room above them. Sam had heard her scream and would be calling, and as he expected, his cell phone went off. Dean dug it out of his pocket and clicked it open.

"She's alright. She's just pissed. Go back to sleep. It's okay. Yeah, we're fine. I'll call you if anything changes," he clicked the phone closed and threw it on the table. "Alyssa. Look at me." He turned her towards him, cupping her face in his hands. "Calm down. We'll figure this out. Okay?"

The fear and pain in her eyes pierced his soul. This woman had gotten to him. It had taken him a lot of time and hard work to get her out of his system the first time, but since she'd come back into his life, she had spread through him like a virus, infecting every part of him, his thoughts, his dreams, every nerve in his body.

Could he handle this? Could he deal with a relationship and the job? Was he even ready to take that next step?

She could sense he was doing his best to control the overpowering heat consuming him. It was her all her doing, spreading herself through him, making his eyes darken. His body was tensing in response to her anger, her rage, feeding his own suppressed emotions. She didn't want him to push it all away. She wanted him to ride it out with her.

Wanting to talk no more, she kissed him forcing him to submit to her this time.

Not sure of what had just happened, Dean pulled himself away. Her chest was heaving; her eyes were darkening from their normal chestnut to a deep chocolate brown. As much as he wanted her like this, he had to question her motives. Was this her doing or some otherworldly force intruding on one of his hottest fantasies?

She could see the hesitation in his eyes, and not wanting to ruin the moment with words, she cocked her eyebrow up and bit her bottom lip.

Good enough, he smirked and dove into her mouth will all the force she could handle. He pulled her onto his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. The sensation he had come to know as her running through him was boiling up within him, driving him on, wanting her more.

The feel of him pushing against her, ready and willing, drove her rage higher. She wanted him inside of her, reaching deeper than humanly possible. She raked her nails across his shoulders wanting to feel his skin against hers.

He threw her on the bed, stepping back long enough to catch his breath as he stripped off his clothes. His skin was on fire, his own anger rising to meet hers.

All his frustrations, fears, worries, and disappointments met in the center of him, fueling the pyre burning in his soul. She had lit this, and he somehow knew she was the only one who could put it out.

His eyes were darkening even more as his rage spiraled. She was absorbing him, soaking up his darkness, forcing it to meld with hers, wanting to give it back to him to make it stronger. She had pulled off her tank top just before he slammed down on top of her.

He ripped her underwear off, not wanting to wait any longer. He crushed her to him, bruising her lips with his. She growled deep in her throat as he bit her neck, driving himself into her with no warning.

The fire was right there, wanting release, growing higher, climbing that peak as he continued moving deeper into her with every muscle in his body. Her nails dug into his back drawing blood, wanting him to hate, rage, and kill.

He felt her nails scraping across his skin. It felt incredible, and he rode it, wanting her to feel it too. He was almost at the pinnacle of all of his pain, and he wanted her to be with him on this. Dean wanted her to feel the agony of his existence, and the only way he could think of to give her all she demanded was to bite her, much like a vampire.

Her skin in his teeth was the last thing she felt as the world behind her eyes exploded in flames. She felt Dean reach his own release, giving her his misery, his death, his life, his rage, all he had within him was hers.

Sam woke up as he felt his body burning, but he wasn't on fire. This was from inside, and he knew it was Alyssa. He could see the rage as the flames that ran through his mind. But his body felt the release of it all. He arched his back feeling himself being brought to a climax he had never known before.

Whatever this was found the need that had been slumbering, bringing it to life, giving it what it had been waiting for. He could smell her, taste the sweat on her skin, feel her wrapped around him, but he was alone in his room.

Somewhere out there, beyond the motel, beyond the boundaries of time, waiting in the darkness, the demon smiled. His plan was coming together perfectly. Of course, it had cost him his own daughter, but she had stepped out of line anyway.

Alyssa was exactly what he needed. She was the key to his success. Dean was playing his part perfectly. Sam now knew what he needed from Alyssa, and he would have his turn, very soon. Yellow eyes looked out across the realms of existence, waiting.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

The morning came all too quickly for the three hunters. Sam woke up to his phone ringing. His body felt as if a Mack truck had hit him. Bobby was on the other line apologizing for having woken him.

He had been concerned about Alyssa, but was relieved to know the doctor had been there and she was doing better. He was calling to tell the boys about a hunt. Seems Ellen had gotten a call from a friend of a friend. There was a poltergeist wreaking havoc at a high school in Kentucky. It wasn't far from them.

Sam agreed they'd check it out, thankful for the reprieve from all the drama. It was back to work, and it felt good to have something else to think about. He took down the necessary information and found out everything else on his laptop. It seemed to be a legitimate hunt.

He called Dean to let him know the good news. That sounded wrong, good news was a poltergeist? The life of a hunter, he snickered to himself.

Dean woke up to the Boston ring tone that he set for Sam's number. Alyssa was still asleep on his chest. He didn't want to answer it as his body ached terribly, but it was probably important. If it wasn't, Sam was due an ass kicking.

"This better be good."

"Good morning to you too. Bobby just called. He's glad Alyssa's okay. Ellen called him wanting to pass on a job to us. It's not too far from here. A high school in Kentucky is being terrorized by a poltergeist. I told Bobby we'd take it. Sounds like a needed distraction. What do you think?"

"You're asking me what I think after you already told Bobby we'd take it." Oh, little brothers.

He gently rubbed Alyssa's shoulder in an attempt to wake her.

She turned to look up at him.

"Yeah, we'll check it out." He closed the cell phone.

"Check out what?" Alyssa moved to get up, her muscles protesting.

Dean caught her with a kiss that was gentler than what they had shared a few hours ago.

"Seems Sam's got a job for us. A poltergeist in Kentucky." 'Work, work, work. Need to make more time for fun,' he thought.

He found Alyssa's medicine on the nightstand, giving her the next dose.

"Sounds interesting. I'm game." Alyssa took the pill from Dean and swallowed it down with the rest of her watered-down soda. "Let's go."

She got up out of the bed a little too fast, making the room spin a few times. She reached for the wall to stop from falling, but Dean was there instead, holding her up on her feet, guiding her back on the bed.

"You're not ready to take on the world just yet." He checked her forehead and was thankful to find there was no more fever, but he saw the darkening bruise on her neck where he'd bitten her.

She had taken on a vision, fought her way back from some unknown infection, and been through the ringer with him all in twenty-four hours. She should be damn near dead right now.

He decided Alyssa wasn't driving anywhere. Sam would have to take her car while he drove the Impala. He quickly got dressed and helped her do the same.

"Where are your keys?"

"I don't know. I remember coming in the door, but not where I left them. Why?"

"You're not driving, so Sam will need the keys to your car." He found them on the floor next to the bathroom where they'd been since Alyssa dropped them yesterday morning.

"He scratches her, you'll be picking pieces of him off the ground."

He chuckled knowing how he felt about the Impala. "I'll warn him." He found the sketchbook where she had thrown it last night, packed their bags, and took them to the cars.

Sam was waiting for him outside.

"The manager was asking about Alyssa. How's she doing?" Sam knew how she was: hot, sweaty, and delicious.

"Her fever's gone, but she's still weak. I think she'll be fine in a couple of days."

Sam realized Dean was loading up the Camaro as well as the Impala.

"We're taking both cars? Who's driving the Camaro?"

"Yeah, don't scratch it, or she'll kill you." He dropped the keys in Sam's hand. "So where are we off to?" He knew his geek-boy brother had already researched their new assignment.

"Paducah, Kentucky." Sam seemed thrown by the chipper Dean. Get him laid and he's a happy camper, Sam thought. But he knew it had gone deeper than that, for both of them.

"Sounds fun," Dean headed back into the motel room. A few minutes later, he came back out the door carrying a very angry Alyssa in his arms.

"I can walk! Put me down!" Alyssa was not going quietly. She could walk just fine on her own. Well, okay, maybe with a little help, but she could still walk. She didn't feel it was necessary to carry her to the car.

She saw Sam smiling at her. "You'd better be careful with my car," pointing at him giving him the best pissed off look she could muster as he was trying hard not to laugh at her.

"Settle down," Dean set her down on the ground, opened the Impala's door for her, and waited until she got in the passenger seat. "Try to keep up." He gave Sam a mischievous look for Alyssa's sake.

"Don't you dare!" she yelled as Dean closed the door on her.

Alyssa had slept most of the trip. That was fine with Dean as it gave him time to just look at her, which he had done a lot during the drive. Dean asked himself over and over again if this is what he wanted, a relationship with someone who knew his world. Could it really happen for him? Dean mulled over the thoughts in his head as they headed to their next hunt.

They pulled into town a couple of hours later and stopped to eat at one of the local restaurants.

Sam had his laptop with him, doing more research on the reported problems at the local high school. "The local authorities have reported two deaths and three injuries at the high school. The deaths were of two males, ages sixteen and seventeen. The three injuries were females, one sixteen, and the other two seventeen."

"Sounds like something has a grudge against the guys," Alyssa made her observations known.

Ever since they had arrived in town, she'd been getting chills. Not the same kind of chills that come with being sick, but the kind of chills she got when something paranormal was trying to get through to her.

"There's something else. Watch this." Alyssa reached inside her jacket pocket and pulled out a black velvet pouch. She dumped the contents of the pouch in her hand, a pendulum made of black onyx on a sterling silver chain.

After clearing a space on the table, she drew a circle with the table salt. She hung the pendulum from her right hand over the salt circle.

Immediately, the black stone began to circle wildly. Alyssa's gaze became glassy, as if she were in a trance.

Sam and Dean kept an eye out for people who might become too curious about what was happening at their table.

Alyssa's hand never moved and her gaze never left the swinging stone. And just as suddenly as it began, the stone stopped dead. Alyssa inhaled sharply as she came back to reality.

"What was that?" Dean asked her.

"You guys use an EMF meter. I use a pendulum. An EMF meter can only detect the electromagnetic fields within a specific area. I can pick up a spectral energy by sending out my own energy to detect it. And whatever it is, it's strong enough to be felt in here." She swept the salt circle onto an empty plate and put the pendulum away.

"You've got all kinds of tricks up your sleeve, don't you?" Dean reminded himself that she was a powerful psychic shaman first, a hunter second. Somewhere between those two, she had also become something to him. What, he wasn't certain of yet.

"I try to keep people guessing. It makes life very interesting." She cocked an eyebrow at Dean. "So, Sam, are there any speculations as to what this thing could be in that computer of yours?"

That look in Dean's eyes had lit the fire deep within her again. She needed to put it out and concentrate on the job at hand.

"There are some people, mostly the students, we can talk to and find out for ourselves, but no. No one seems to have an explanation that makes any sense." Sam wrote down the names mentioned in the online articles on their napkins. "Okay, back to work then." He handed each of them a napkin.

It was decided, by Dean, that he and Alyssa would do their interviews together and Sam would go solo. He had explained to Sam that he wasn't letting Alyssa out of his sight again.

Sam shook his head, but he didn't argue with him. It wasn't easy to change Dean's mind about anything, so he didn't try.

They would keep each other informed of their progress by way of cell phone. A nearby motel was chosen as the rendezvous point.

Dean stood guard outside of the hospital room as Alyssa spoke to the girls who had been attacked. They had played themselves off as reporters for a nearby college newspaper. Thirty-five minutes had passed since Alyssa had gone in the room with the girls.

Women can talk about anything, he groaned to himself.

The door opened, and Alyssa stormed out with a look of concern on her face. She pulled Dean with her making a beeline for the exit.

"I've heard enough. Call Sam. Tell him to meet us at the high school gym." She was all business now.

The ride to the gym was silent. Alyssa seemed preoccupied with something.

"You mind clueing me in on what's going on? Did you find out anything with the girls back there?" He didn't like being left out of the loop.

"Those stupid kids. They got themselves into this mess, and I should make them get out of it. I can't believe they would do something so dangerous."

"What? What's going on?"

"This is a strong Christian community, right? So for kicks a couple of girls have a slumber party."

"Slumber parties. Seems pretty normal for teenagers. Do I turn here?"

"Yeah," Alyssa looked at the map again, "and then take a left two stop signs up. Slumber parties are fine until you mix in a séance. An amateur séance at that."

"They didn't," he overacted the line.

"They did," she smacked him on the arm. "It seems there was a girl from the freshman class who committed suicide. She was apparently upset over having been dumped after giving in to her so-called boyfriend. The senior class boys were keeping score cards, and she was a pretty high-point score. She was so upset over what happened that she jumped from the roof of the gym, landing on the boy's car."

"So, she gives in, he dumps her, and she takes her own life to get back at him. That always works, doesn't it?" the sarcasm in his voice matched her mood about the whole situation. "Why would these girls want to contact her? Were they friends of hers?"

"They claim it was supposed to be a joke to scare everyone at the slumber party. I got the details of the ritual they used, and everything was legit. They got the spell from some online website that posts witchcraft rituals, and they bought the séance supplies from their own grocery store."

Alyssa had had a very difficult life growing up with the stigma of being a witch. The taunts, the looks, the satanic references to her practices drove her away from much of society. Seeing stupid, uneducated children making a mockery of her work just pissed her off.

"What's the plan, then?" They were pulling into the high school parking lot nearest the gym seeing Sam waiting for them.

"I try to send her back. They brought her over, and I have to send her home."

"You do know we can just find where she's buried and burn her bones. We'd be done and out of here in no time."

"I know. But this one wasn't here by accident, Dean. Children who have no idea what they've done brought her here. She needs to be put back." Alyssa got out of the car.

Sam handed her the keys to her Camaro.

She opened the trunk, revealing an empty space, but for a spare tire, a jack stand, and some tools.

Alyssa reached up under the back dashboard and pulled a lever. The floor of the trunk was triggered revealing a cache of weapons, spell bottles, herb bags, crystals, and other necessities. It resembled the cache in the Impala's trunk, only more organized. Alyssa grabbed a few things while Sam and Dean admired her collection.

"You guys done looking?" She waited for them to put her things back in the trunk.

"Sorry," they spoke in unison and returned the items to where they found them.

She closed the trunk. "You guys taking anything?"

They pulled out the EMF meter, a couple of pistols, and the sawed-off shotgun loaded with rock salt shells.

"We're good. We'll just follow you." Dean tucked the pistol and EMF in his jacket pockets.

Sam wasn't sure what they were doing, but he was wondering why they weren't in the cemetery digging up the spirit's remains.

Better just keep my mouth shut for now, he thought.

Sam picked the lock on the gymnasium door, and he and Dean went in first with guns and flashlights drawn.

Alyssa stayed back, letting them do their part as hunters.

People who took their own lives were the hardest to deal with after death. They can become unreasonable. Or if conjured, say through a séance, they can become vengeful and dangerous if they're not sent back through the veil.

Alyssa made her way to the center of the gym choosing the basketball layout as the perfect place for constructing a circle. The lines were red, which represented passion as well as anger.

Sam and Dean were checking out every nook and cranny of the gym. They didn't want any surprises.

"Dean, which way is north?"

He checked the compass on his watch. "That way." He pointed towards the huge mural painting on the north wall.

"Thank you." Alyssa took out a bottle of dirt and poured a small pile of it on the floor at the northern point.

Sam couldn't help himself. "What's that?"

"It's graveyard dirt. It's from a soldier's grave. It's stronger and more protective." Alyssa placed an incense burner at the east mark. At the south, she placed a black candle, and the west was marked with a bowl of river water.

To begin her ritual, Alyssa went to each marker starting at the north. She silently spoke a spell over the dirt. She went to the incense, whispered another spell and set it to burning, filling the gym with an earthen, musky smell. She walked to the candle, said another prayer, and lit the candle with a match. The west mark received the same respect. She stepped back to the center of the circle she had created.

"Whatever you do, don't cross over the circle. Don't break the circle. Got it?" She looked to both Sam and Dean for confirmation that they understood.

Each of them nodded their heads, signaling they got it.

"Here we go," Alyssa stood facing north. "Ancient Ones of yesteryear, my words I beg of you to here. A soul has strayed from the path, and wrought upon us fear and wrath. Guide her here before me this night, that we may set the wrong to right." She paused, listening.

Alyssa's eyes went glassy like in the restaurant earlier. A cold wind blew through the gym, and a scream of rage echoed off the walls.

To their amazement, Sam and Dean watched as a spirit obeyed a summoning. The frail form of Melissa Tanner materialized in front of Alyssa, flickering in and out as ghosts do. She wore glasses, had long straight black hair, and was dressed in her school uniform. Remembering not to cross the circle, they pointed their guns at the ghost making sure to keep Alyssa and each other out of any possible crossfire.

"Melissa," Alyssa's voice echoed, "you were summoned by mistake. You have harmed us. You have to cross the veil once more and never return." Alyssa's eyes didn't blink, as her hair was blown wildly around her.

They weren't sure how, but both Dean and Sam could see the wind blowing; however, it was only within the confines of the circle. There was no movement outside of it.

"I've come to send you home."

"No," the spirit spoke only one word. "No." The wind grew more violent as Melissa tried to show off what she could do to the mortal before her.

"You are not stronger than me, Melissa. I've been doing this longer than you were alive or have been dead." Alyssa pushed back the wind.

Melissa was doing parlor tricks. Spirits who hadn't been around long enough could only do small things, like blow a curtain, or some were strong enough to move a book.

The truly evil ones could definitely harm the living, but Melissa was nothing more than a spoiled child. She had used amateur tricks to hurt the students in her school.

Eventually, Alyssa and the ghost were face-to-face in the calmness around them.

"You don't belong here, Melissa. You have to go. If you stay here, you'll never return to try again." Her voice was soothing like a mother speaking to her child. "You can return when you're ready. You'll choose your new life, face new challenges, and hopefully learn from your past mistakes. Let go of the hate, the anger. Let it all go, Melissa, and return home. Your grandmother's waiting for you."

Melissa's form flickered again as a smile spread across her face. She closed her eyes and faded away in a flash of light.

That was easy, Dean thought. He lowered the shotgun and looked at Sam, who could only shrug his shoulders.

"Is that it?" Dean walked around to see Alyssa's face, anxious to get out of town and make some headway on finding the demon, but she wasn't responding.

Sam came around to see what was wrong.

"Why isn't she coming out of it, Dean?"

There was a hot wind blowing through the gym. Not just in the circle this time, but through the whole gym.

"I don't know. Alyssa!" Dean tried to yell over the howling of the hot air, hoping to get through. Damn it! He knew this had been a bad idea. Should have just salted and burned the kid's bones.

Sam watched as the wind blew out the candle, spilled the water, scattered the dirt, and sent the incense cone flying.

"Dean," he pulled his brother closer to him, pointing at the floor, "the circle's broken!"

Both of them started towards Alyssa to get her out of here, but only Sam made it to her. Dean had been shoved back by something unseen.

Sam called after him, "Dean!"

He turned back to Alyssa, sensing something in her calling to him. She was looking through him, her hair seeming to flow in slow motion around her. Sam felt the need rising, coming alive, and filling him. He stepped closer to her, wanting to feed from her, needing to taste her. His head snapped back with the force of her hitting him square in the chest.

"Sam!" Dean was on his feet, but he couldn't reach them. Some kind of force field was preventing him from getting past the circle. What the hell was going on? His skin was alive with the needle feeling again. "Sam! Alyssa!"

'_Take it, Sam. Take it all in,'_ he heard a voice in his mind.

Sam could barely breathe. It felt as if he were drowning, drowning in waves of power coursing through his body.

Alyssa touched him with her energy, sensing something that wanted her. She needed him to take it from her.

The heat swirling around them felt like fingertips caressing her skin. She was becoming aroused with the sensations, and thoughts that weren't hers were running through her mind, thoughts of sharing more than just power with Sam.

Alyssa felt she had no control of her body as she moved into Sam's arms. The power surged through them harder now, as the wind seemed to be pushing them together. She placed her hands on Sam's chest, feeling his muscles moving beneath his shirt as her power joined with him.

Sam let her into the very core of his being. Every nerve in his body had come alive. Her hands on his chest sent a pulse through him, but it wasn't enough. He wanted more, so much more.

The heat within him was searching for her. Finding her, it demanded her completely, and he was happy to oblige. He kissed Alyssa, devouring her physically and psychically.

Locked in each other's arms, the power between them met and found what it had been looking for.

Dean couldn't believe what he was seeing. His own brother and his….what was she to him? What the hell is going on? Dean tried to get to them, and again something stopped him.

"Alyssa! Sam!" he yelled again. He had to get through to them somehow. "Alyssa!" He could only stand by and watch as Alyssa and Sam kissed and the sensations of something really bad ran across his skin. What could he do? He had to get through to one of them.

"Sam!" He maneuvered himself so his brother would be able to see him. "Sam! Listen to me! This isn't right. Something else is going on here! It's the demon, Sam!" He wasn't getting through. "Damn it, Sam! You're kissing my girlfriend!"

Sam could hear nothing through the waves of power pounding against his skin, echoing in his head. The more he took of her, the more he could feel. If only he could have all of her. What could she give him? He pulled her closer to him, feeling her body against his, arousing him and whatever it was inside him.

She heard his voice echoing across her mind, feeling his panic, his pain. She felt something pulling her away from Dean, trying to sever her tie to him. She didn't want to lose him. He was the only one who understood her, the only one she trusted with her life, and now her heart.

Her lips were still locked to Sam, his tongue exploring her mouth.

'_Wake up, Alyssa!'_ the voice was screaming at her.

Her eyes shot open; the sudden realization of what was happening finally waking her completely. She wrenched Sam's lips from hers, pushing him away. His face twisted with the pleasure of what he was feeling coming from her power. Unsure of what was happening to them, Alyssa reached out with her energy searching for the answer. She found him lurking in the shadows of her mind, watching her. The yellow eyes were smiling.

_You did it, Alyssa. That's my girl. Let it all go now. Let it all go through him. Awaken him for me, Alyssa. You both belong to me. You are mine. _

She would not give in to him, be his pawn in this game. She would not lose Sam to his plans.

_He wants you, Alyssa. You're his now. Take him, right here, right now._

Sam had to help her stop this, if only he wanted to. She grabbed his face in her hands.

"Sam! You have to stop this. We have to stop this! Sam, please. Listen to me!" Sam opened his eyes, slowly, as if he were drunk.

"I can feel it all now, Alyssa." Sam's brown eyes were dark, very dark.

"Sam, no! You can't do this. We have to stop. It's him, Sam. The demon wants us. We have to stop him." He wasn't listening to her. "Think of Dean. Think of your brother."

"Dean? He doesn't know what to do with this. I do," Sam could feel something growing inside him, searching, wanting out. It was like a ball of energy expanding within him, and he needed to send it somewhere, get it out before it grew to large. He concentrated on the thick glass backboard behind her, shattering it into a million pieces.

"Sam, please," she had felt the strength of what he'd done, knowing it could kill Dean, if she didn't stop him. She became calm knowing her fear was feeding him, keeping him in its grasp. "Sam, hear me."

The blackness was there again, waiting for her to call to it. She could see Sam was succumbing to the powers he so longed for, and she was the only one who could stop it.

Dean was circling them wondering what he could do to save his brother. One of them had shattered the backboard, nearly sending the shards down upon him, but he was more concerned with what was happening between Sam and Alyssa.

He saw the look in Alyssa's eyes as she held Sam's face. He'd seen the same look on her face three times now. She knew what she could do, and she had found the way to use it. As her eyes faded to white his skin became electrified.

As Alyssa smothered the growing flames with the icy peace she now controlled, Sam fought against it, grasping for her, not wanting to let her go. He wasn't finished with her, yet, and he didn't want it to end.

She slowly brought him around, easing his need, cooling the fire in him, and bringing him back to a normal level of consciousness, making him aware of just how close he had come to doing something very wrong. The fear of what could have been gripped him.

Alyssa could see the demon's eyes reflecting in Sam's eyes, which meant he was there between them, somewhere.

It was more difficult this time, but she finally found him, watching them. A loud clap went through the air, shattering the remaining backboard and blowing the doors off the building. The demon was once again expelled from their presence.

Alyssa fell forward, right into Sam's arms.

Dean moved into the circle with nothing holding him back. He took Alyssa from Sam, holding her close to his face, watching her eyes trying to refocus.

"Alyssa?" Was she still in there somewhere? "Alyssa?"

She saw his face, his concern for her hidden behind the anger.

Please, don't be mad at me, she cried silently. A tear fell down her cheek.

Sam couldn't think of what to say. What had he done? What had she done to him? His brother didn't even want to look at him. Could he blame him?

"Dean, what happened? What did I do?"

"You okay to drive?" Dean looked at his brother as if he no longer knew who he was. He found Alyssa's keys in her pants pocket and tossed them to him.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good. Get everything out of here that could be used to track us down, her stuff too. Meet me at the cars." He picked Alyssa up in his arms and carried her out of the gymnasium, not bothering to look back.

Not much had been said since they left Paducah. Dean concentrated on the road; Sam was keeping up in the Camaro behind them, and Alyssa sat silent in the passenger seat of the Impala staring out of the window.

They would be coming up on the highway junction in another thirty miles, and Dean was thinking of heading back to Bobby's.

"Dean, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about Sam. It wasn't me, I swear it."

Dean wanted to be pissed at her, and as a matter of fact, he was pissed, but at whom? Was he pissed at her, at Sam, at himself?

"What happened back there? And I want to know the truth, Alyssa. No watered-down crap." He could see her eyes searching for an answer.

She thought back to the high school. She remembered the girl's spirit. She recalled feeling something pushing her into Sam's arms, giving him what he needed. She could feel Sam kissing her, and how she had returned those kisses. His desire for her had been overpowering her own will to stop.

"I don't know what's happening, but I know I can't be near Sam. There's something in him that wants me, needs me to set it free. And the demon's behind it all. He's always there, waiting, watching. I'm scared. What if I can't stop him next time?"

There won't be a next time, he thought. He pulled out his cell phone and called Sam.

"Hey, Sam, you okay back there? Yeah, we're fine. We're stopping for the night. The next motel we come across that has a bar near it. I need a drink, man. I don't know. I'm thinking of going back home. Talk to Missouri. Yeah, I'm sure. It's the only thing I can think of. Okay."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Missouri Moseley was the local psychic in their hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. She had helped their father after their mother had died and helped them with a problem in their old house.

Dean hoped she could help Alyssa. If not, he had no other way to turn. He was just as lost as she was, and being lost scared the hell out of him.

So they were headed home, again. Sam hoped Missouri would have some idea of how to help them, or maybe she could tell him what was happening to him.

Sam thought back to the gym, recalling the feeling of having all that power. He had been drunk with it as it coursed through his veins. He had shattered the backboard. He had wanted to break it, and it had exploded. He knew that was just the tip of the iceberg of what he was capable of doing, if he could just get it out of Alyssa. He'd had a taste of what was possible, and he wanted more. He felt the gnawing in the pit of his stomach again.

Alyssa had stopped him, putting out the fires burning in him. He'd fought her for the control, but she was still stronger. If he were alone with her long enough, she'd give him all he desired, and then he would be the stronger one, and he could take her completely.

What the hell was he thinking? This wasn't like him. He shook his head to clear the thoughts away and concentrated on following the Impala.

The next stop offered a bed, food, and drink all within a two block radius. Sam and Dean pulled into the motel parking side by side.

Alyssa didn't want to talk, didn't want to look at anyone. She just wanted to drink the thoughts away, push them to the bottom of her mind, clouded by whiskey and beer.

She was free to get just as smashed as she wanted to now, no one would die for her lack of inhibitions when intoxicated.

As soon as Dean turned off the car, she was out the door heading for the bar across the street.

"Where are you going?" Dean jumped out of the Impala ready to run after her.

"I'm getting a head start. I'll be three beers in before you two finally hit the door," she left him standing at the car, unable, or perhaps unwilling, to stop her.

"Where's she going?" Sam was opening the trunk to retrieve their bags.

"Probably to start trouble. We'd better hurry this up. I got a bad feeling," he headed for the office to set up their rooms for the night.

Alyssa stepped into the bar inhaling the cloud of cigarette smoke that sat stagnant in the air. The small crowd of locals seemed pretty tough, all leather, chains, and facial hair.

'_Real pretty bunch, aren't they?'_ her old friend had returned to keep her company.

Guess they don't know about the smoking ban in bars way out here, she thought.

'_Don't think they really care.' _

You know I'm drowning you tonight?

'_Figured, so I'm putting in my two cents now. You're dangerous alone. Wait for them.'_

Nope. Me, Jack Daniels, and beer are partying tonight, and you're not welcome.

The silence assured her she was now completely alone, at least until Sam and Dean arrived. And if she were lucky, by the time they showed up, she wouldn't care one way or the other.

Alyssa took a seat at the bar, ordered a double shot of Jack and a cold bottle of beer, no glass. The whiskey went down hard, burning her throat, so she washed it down with a couple of swallows of the beer.

"So, what's a girl like you doin' in a dive like this?"

The thing that seemed to pass for a man stood next to her, breathing stale alcohol across her face.

"Not interested, so please just leave me alone." The whiskey was working faster than she had anticipated. Better stay clear a bit longer, at least until this idiot takes a hike, she warned herself.

"C'mon, honey. You don't just walk in here alone and expect no one to try. Do ya?"

Alyssa turned towards him, noticing he was at least six feet tall, maybe an inch more. He wasn't obese, but his beer gut put him at around two hundred sixty to two hundred eighty pounds. His arms were large, which meant he had to have worked out at some point in his life. He had sickly brown eyes and scraggly light brown hair tied in a ponytail low on the back of his head. His teeth needed serious attention from a highly skilled dentist, and his beard seemed to be hoarding the food he couldn't get into his mouth.

He may have been scary on Halloween decked out in his leather vest, torn blue jeans, and dirty white t-shirt, but to Alyssa, he was nothing more than a pathetic excuse for a human.

"You've tried, you've failed. Now, for the last time, leave me alone," her eyes burned hot, wanting him to see she was not amused with the interruptions.

Not giving him the chance to find a comeback, she turned away and ordered another shot of whiskey and another beer.

The bartender served her the booze and seemed to shrink back away from her side of the bar.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up in alarm. The reflection in the wall-sized mirror behind the bar gave her the view of the other patrons hastily making their way to the exit.

She spun around on the bar stool, coming face to face with her not-so-secret admirer.

"No one turns me down. I paid for that drink," he pointed at her beer. "I expect something in return."

Alyssa looked at the bottle in her hand. "You paid for this?"

"Yup," he answered.

"Well, then," she pulled a ten-dollar bill out of her jacket and slapped it on the bar, "debt paid plus interest. Thanks."

She started to turn back towards the bar, but he stopped her with a large hand at her throat.

"I don't want your money, bitch. You owe me. You're all alone little girl. Ain't no one gonna help you here. I own this joint, so they all owe me something. Won't be no witnesses to nothing."

"You certainly didn't make it too far in school did you? You can't have a double negative in a sentence." She smarted off, hoping to confuse him enough to buy her some time. "But, you're right, there won't be any witnesses to what I'm going to do to you if you don't get your filthy inbred hand off of me." That familiar rage was rapidly heating up inside her, and boiling point wasn't too far away.

He took his hand off her throat, but she never saw the other hand setting up for the hit across her face. Her lip split open, spilling blood into her mouth.

"Hey, Charlie. Open the back room. I got me a visitor."

The bartender disappeared to the back of the bar, keys in hand.

Alyssa ran the back of her hand across her lip, seeing the bloodstain on her skin.

Oh, this bastard dies tonight. No mercy, no second chance.

'_Calm down before you do something you'll regret.'_

Too late, she growled back to the voice.

She got down from the stool, standing her ground in front of the brain-dead idiot who dared hit her. Behind her back she held the beer bottle tight in her fist.

The brute grabbed her hair, pulling her neck back, expecting her to just follow along with him to the infamous back room.

Dean and Sam were arguing who was getting which room when they noticed the people scurrying out of the bar. They stopped and looked at each other thinking the same thing.

"I told you she was looking for trouble." Dean spoke first.

They sprinted towards the bar trying to avoid the old trucks and motorcycles making their escape.

Sam burst in the door with Dean right behind him, pushing past to see Alyssa's hair tangled in some grimy dude's hand.

"Alyssa, honey. You okay?" Dean thought it best to play this cool for right now, though beneath his icy exterior, the inferno was already raging.

"Just fine, sweetheart. Seems this gentleman doesn't want to take no for an answer."

"I bought her a drink, and I expect something in return."

"Look Grizzly Adams, it's the twenty-first century. The days of buying a drink to get laid are long over. Maybe if you got out of the woods every now and then you'd know that."

Sam nudged his brother in the back. He knew he was instigating more of a fight than what was already in progress, but what he didn't know was Dean was trying to buy Alyssa a few more seconds.

"That's how things work in my town."

"Hell of a place you picked for a stopover." Alyssa's eyes never deviated from her intended target.

"Can't judge a book by its cover, right?" he tried to apologize for sticking them here.

The grip on her hair was tightening. Apparently, the appearance of her backup had put a damper on his plans.

"Thought you'd be three beers in when we got here." Sam was readying the gun behind his back, knowing he would have to cover them in case this got really bad.

"I am. I've had two, and there's this one." Alyssa swung wide with the bottle in her right hand, shattering it into pieces as it made contact with the side of Grizzly Adam's head.

He released her hair enough for her to pull free giving her a clean shot at his groin. Her booted foot landed squarely in the center of him, doubling him over as the agony shot through his upper torso. Alyssa's elbow smashed into his face, blinding him with pain, blood pouring from his broken nose.

He lay on the floor of the bar a broken man, bleeding and near tears from the agony coursing through his body, but Alyssa wasn't finished with him yet. From behind her back, she pulled out the knife Bobby had given her as a sweet-sixteen gift.

Dean's lightning fast reflexes kicked in and he was there, stopping her from killing the mess of a man on the floor.

Sam was right behind his brother with his gun aimed steady making sure no retaliation was in the works.

"Easy, girl. He's down." He slowly backed her away from her victim. "You did a good job, by the way," Dean had a hold of her knife hand, trying to get the blade away from her.

Sam came around them, his gun still trained on the groaning man, and eased the knife from her grip, showing her he wasn't going to keep it for himself.

"Let me see," Dean looked at her face, wiping the blood from her lip. The anger in him was still burning. He should kill the bastard himself, but that would bring the cops down on them and fast.

"I'm fine." She was trying to focus on his face, willing the tears not to fall.

"Yeah, I bet." He could see the fury in her eyes. It wasn't far from the surface. Oh, the night they could have after this.

She saw the lust in his eyes, knowing the same thoughts crossed his mind that had poured through hers.

Since their last anger-fueled night of raw sex, they had slept in separate motel rooms. They had agreed what they shared that night was a little frightening, and they didn't want a repeat performance. Not to mention, they were both pretty battered and bruised and needed time to recover, but tonight would be the perfect night for a rerun.

"Sam," his brother was checking on the condition of the victim of Alyssa's wrath.

"Yeah. He'll need to see a doctor for that nose job. But other than that, he'll be fine."

"He can crawl to the hospital himself. Grab a couple of cold ones. I'm going to walk her to her room."

"Sure. See you in the morning." He knew what Dean had planned with Alyssa, and he couldn't wait to feel the fire rushing through his blood again.

Alyssa stormed out of the bar, her blood boiling, her wrath still flashing through her mind. She was looking for something or someone to break; she wasn't the only one who needed to feel this. It wasn't enough to take it out on that prick in the bar; she needed more, and she needed a lot of it.

Dean raced to catch up to the hellfire of a woman he'd come to respect, and fear a little after witnessing the showdown of a lifetime.

"Hey, hey," he caught her arm, spinning her into his chest. "Are you…"?

She grabbed his jacket and pulled her to him, kissing him, splitting her lip again. The pain felt so good to her, setting her nerves on fire.

He tasted blood as her lip opened from the force of her kiss. She had been set to kill just a few minutes ago, and now she wanted him to bang the hell out of her. As good as it felt to screw away his anger and frustrations, her behavior was beginning to bother him.

"Wait," pulling away from her was almost impossible. "Alyssa, wait. Please." It took him a second to catch his breath.

"No. I don't want to wait."

She started for his lips again, but he again stopped her.

"Alyssa. What is going on with you?"

"I'm pissed off and horny, Dean. What more do you want?" She was biting his neck, reminding him of how much he'd hurt her last time.

It was getting more difficult to keep his senses about him, but he needed to stay focused long enough to get back to the motel room before they both lost control.

"Let's get inside."

"What if I want you right now, right here?"

"I'm not into exhibitionism. I'd rather have you where no one else can see," he kissed her hoping to get her to agree with him.

"Let's go," she spoke against his lips. She was still raging inside, feeling the burn of hatred searing through her body. She was lost to the fire, oblivious to the world around her, wanting only to dwell within the firestorm.

'_Who are you?'_ the voice spoke through the flames.

Back off. I don't need you, she answered hotly.

Dean had barely gotten the door to the motel room opened when Alyssa attacked him. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't stop himself, wanting her more as each second passed. He didn't have to help her undress as she as well on her way, their mouths never parting, their tongues fighting for dominance.

Sam knew his brother wouldn't be returning to their room tonight, and he'd been counting on it. He'd seen the rage in Alyssa's eyes as she was poised to cut the jackass who attacked her. He could smell the heat surrounding her.

What he wouldn't give to touch that fire, feel it burn his skin as he took her for his own. She was wasting herself on Dean. She should be with him, feeding his need for power, bringing him to the pinnacle of his destiny.

He laid on the double bed furthest from the window, in line with the bed he knew they would be on right now. He relaxed his mind, his body, and let the world fall away.

He felt the heat caressing his skin, the flames on the edge of his vision driving the passion higher. He could taste the sweat on her skin, the way her body felt slamming against his, the scent of her hair filling his lungs, he was riding her hard and fast.

The release came again with the flames spiraling around him, scorching the very air he breathed. Every nerve was burning as he reached the ultimate climax once again.

Sam opened his eyes, breathing heavily, feeling the wetness in his jeans. He needed a shower after a dream like that. Dean would never let him live this down if he saw him having wet dreams as if he were twelve again.

He opened one of the beers he'd brought back to the room, and chugged down half of it, trying to cool off before closing the bathroom door behind him.

The scratches on his back stung as the sweat ran across them. Dean told her to take her shower first to give him time to recover. What he really needed to do was think about what was happening to her.

She wasn't the same Alyssa; he knew that for certain. Since she'd had the vision of herself, she was angrier, more full of rage than he'd thought was possible for one human being. He knew he had a quick temper, but she was going from zero to kill in nothing flat. It worried him to think of just how far she would have gone in the bar if he hadn't stopped her.

'_Nice to see you're back,'_ the voice spoke warily.

What are you talking about? I've been here the whole time.

'_No. You weren't. Something's getting into you. You're dangerous to everyone unless you get this under control.'_

It's just angry sex, something to pass the time and get out our aggressions. Thought you'd enjoy the show, she answered washing her bruised neck. The newest bite would take longer to heal, for Dean had broken the skin this time.

'_It's not just the sex. It's the fire behind it. You're losing control.'_

Can't have any fun with you around, can I? Let me shower in peace, please. The voice was gone.

Dean took his turn in the shower and joined her in the bed. She was sleeping soundly, naked and freshly bathed. He moved next to her, laying her head on his arm, her back to his chest. He leaned in to smell her hair. The scent took him back to the night she turned eighteen, the night they spent camping under the stars.

He touched the bite mark he'd left behind on her shoulder. She'd drawn blood on him, and he'd done the same to her. She'd demanded it, saying she needed to feel the pain. Looking at the damage he had inflicted upon her, he suddenly felt like a monster, the kind he and Sam hunted.

Whatever she was going through was affecting him as well. They needed to get to Missouri's before someone got seriously hurt or killed. Dean drifted off to sleep wondering what the next few days would bring for them.

Still wondering how the hell last night got away without him getting one drop of alcohol, Dean checked them out of the motel.

"Seems our Grizzly Adams has seen the error of his ways," he paused at the Camaro's front end.

"What makes you say that?" Alyssa was driving her own car today. She was fed up with being a passenger.

"After his visit to the doctor this morning, he went and got himself baptized by the local preacher."

"Guess he saw the devil himself last night, huh?" Alyssa could only stare at the hood of her car, remembering the voice's words of wisdom in the shower.

"Guess so," Dean left it at that. He'd been thinking the same thing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

It was the cheapest and most effective therapy in the world: driving. Alyssa's mood was as dark as the night is black when they left the motel. But out on the road, feeling the power of the car at her command, listening to the rock music at full volume, she could feel the darkness slowly fading.

This is where she felt free, alive, and at home. It would have been a little more freeing if she hadn't needed to follow the Impala in front of her, but it was good enough to lighten her mood by the time Lawrence, Kansas came into view.

It was early afternoon when they arrived at Missouri's house. She was waiting for them at the door when they pulled into her driveway. She knew whom she needed to talk to before any of them said a word.

"Sam, you look good. How are you?" She offered him a hug.

"I'm fine, Missouri. Thanks." Sam accepted the hug, returning it with one of his own.

"And Dean. You look tired. Are you getting enough sleep?"

How come he didn't get the "you look good" speech? He looked at his clothes wondering if they were wrinkled up, dirty, or something.

"Well, don't be rude, boy. Introduce us." She was very taken with the woman standing before her.

"Missouri, this is…" Dean started.

"Alyssa. It's nice to meet you," she took Alyssa's hand in hers. Something was hidden deep within this child, she thought. "Come on in. I've made coffee for everyone." She wrapped her arm around Alyssa and walked her into her home.

"What just happened there?" his brow was furrowed with confusion.

"I don't know, Dean. How'd she know her name?" Sam was anxious to get in the house and see what Missouri had to say about Alyssa.

"Psychics," Dean sighed following Sam into the house.

Alyssa was floored that the heavyset black woman knew her name. What else could she know about her?

'_Maybe she can see your secrets,'_ the voice whispered, not wanting to be heard by this new person in their lives.

Not if I have anything to say about it. Alyssa envisioned a globe of light surrounding her, protecting her from intrusions or attacks, keeping her secrets a secret.

That should work, she thought.

Missouri's home was quaint, unattractive, but cozy and modestly decorated. She led Alyssa to a small room with very close seating. A small green couch was set against the wall bordered by a coffee table. On the other side of the plain, wooden table was a brown leather chair.

She excused herself to retrieve the coffee from the kitchen, as Dean and Sam made themselves at home. They had been here before; she recalled Dean's phone conversation with Sam yesterday.

Sam sat next to Alyssa on the couch, making sure not to touch her or get too close. Dean was about to set himself down in the brown leather chair.

"That's my seat. Get your butt out of it." Missouri spoke from the kitchen.

Alyssa and Sam snickered as Dean moved around to sit down on the other side of the couch.

"And you better watch your mouth." She came around the corner with four steaming cups of coffee on a porcelain tray.

Dean held his tongue, fully aware she could hear him, and so he thought nothing just to get himself off the hot seat.

The four of them sat in silence, sipping their coffee. Alyssa refused to make eye contact with Missouri afraid of what she would see. She looked at her hands, her coffee cup, her lap, and in her mind she kept the globe of light around her.

There were some things she didn't want anyone to know, especially someone who could just pick the secrets out of her head.

Missouri's face slowly changed from friendly and cordial to concerned and upset.

"What's wrong?" Dean noticed the tension in the room had risen and the look on the psychic's face.

"You don't want to let anyone in, do you, honey?"

Alyssa looked Missouri in the eye for the first time since they arrived. She kept her mind empty, guarding her thoughts and secrets as if they were gold.

Missouri saw the look in Alyssa's eyes sending a cold chill through her midsection and wrapping around her spine. She again tried to pick up something from her.

Alyssa could feel the twinge of someone trying to pick open her mind. It felt like a mosquito buzzing around her head. She thought about smacking that little bug, but instead opted to keep everything locked up tight, letting nothing in or out.

'_What if she could help?_ The voice whispered in her ear.

I don't want her help. They do, she whispered back.

'_Give her a chance, Alyssa. Please, for us.'_

Fine. Have it your way, but this won't be pretty. She made the decisionto let Missouri see everything, all of it at once.

Alyssa shattered the shield of protection around her releasing all her thoughts and emotions like a hurricane blowing across the sea.

Missouri couldn't stop the flood of images invading her mind. She saw the death of this woman's mother, the many visions that were her gift, the demon, and the rage inside, the peace that gave her power, and much more. It was too much for her to handle all at once causing her hands to begin to shake.

Sam noticed something was not right with their psychic friend. He got up to take her coffee from her so she wouldn't spill it and burn herself. He saw Alyssa staring at Missouri, her eyes unblinking, unwavering.

"What's wrong with her?" Dean set his own coffee down on the table.

"Look at Alyssa," Sam didn't dare touch her. He could feel her again, reaching into him, awakening the need.

Dean moved off the couch to get a better view of what was going on. Alyssa was just looking at Missouri, but her stare was intense.

"Alyssa." he waved his hand in front of her face. She didn't flinch a muscle. "Alyssa!"

"Dean, whatever she's doing, stop her."

Missouri was shaking uncontrollably. The images were still flashing across her mind. She had seen the horrors this child had endured, the pure anger and lust she shared with Dean, the power she almost gave to Sam, the yellow eyes of the demon wanting her.

Dean grabbed Alyssa's face turning her to see him, but she wasn't in there.

As his green eyes came into view, she blinked, seeing him as if for the first time.

The images ceased, giving Missouri a chance to breath.

Dean grabbed Alyssa's arm, dragging her out of the room towards the front door.

Sam escorted Missouri to the kitchen now that she was capable of walking.

"Alyssa, what did you do to her?" Dean didn't like how Missouri was always in his head, but she was still a good friend. There was no need for Alyssa attacking her.

"She was trying to get in my head, Dean." Alyssa could feel the heat of her anger burning deep in her mind. "Buzzing around like a little bug. She wanted it, so I gave it to her, all of it. You want to know about me, she's got the crash course version. Go talk to her." She slammed the door on her way out of the house.

Dean watched her through the window as she got in the car. He was worried she'd take off again, but he relaxed, seeing her turn the power on to listen to her rock music full blast.

Sam was in the kitchen getting Missouri a glass of water. She was still a bit shaken from the experience, but she was recovering.

Dean sat next to her at the dining table.

"What happened in there?" He didn't know how to apologize for someone else, and he wasn't sure if he should.

"That is some woman you guys have there. She's been through hell and back. I'm very surprised she hasn't given in before now."

"Given into what?" Sam handed Missouri the water as he sat across from her. He knew what Alyssa had in her, for he had felt it in himself.

"Haven't you felt it? All that hate, rage? That child is a time bomb ready to explode. And he knows it." She took a sip of the cold water.

"Who knows it?" Dean could feel the answer in his gut.

"The yellow-eyed demon. He wants her for himself, doesn't he?" She searched their eyes looking for the answer she already knew. "You know what he wants from her, don't you." She was looking directly at Dean.

"Yeah, we know." The uneasiness grew worse. They could barely protect themselves from the yellow-eyed demon. How were they supposed to protect her from him?

"She's in the middle of something big, boys. Something she has no understanding of right now." She got up from the table. "I need to talk with her."

The two women were seated alone in the room, Alyssa on the green couch and Missouri in the brown leather chair once again.

"Why didn't you want me to read you?" the worry was etched across her forehead.

"My life, my thoughts. I don't like to share." Simple and to the point, she thought.

The voice that had guided and comforted her remained quiet.

"Then why did you show it to me like that? All at once?"

"You wanted it. I felt you buzzing around in my head, trying to find a way in." She wanted to stay angry but was finding it difficult to do just that. "I don't know. Maybe I was hoping you could figure it all out, but I didn't want to sit here and talk it out one memory at a time. There are some memories I don't ever want to see again, Missouri."

The anguish locked away in her heart began to seep through her eyes. Alyssa sat up a little taller, closing that door once and for all. Missouri didn't catch what it was, but she knew it had scarred her deeply.

"From what I have seen, you are very special, Alyssa. You're special to both sides, the light and the dark."

Is she right? Alyssa waited for an answer in her mind, but there was only the silence.

"You've been touched by both. The light gave you the freedom to love. They want you on their side, destroying all evil. The dark side has promised you great power. They want you to destroy all that which is good. You have to choose, Alyssa. Choose which side you'll stand on, or will you keep each from destroying the other?"

"What do you mean by that? Keep each from destroying the other?"

"You could be the balance that is lacking in the world right now. Evil is trying to get the upper hand, and right now they have it. But with you on their side, they would be unstoppable. It's the same with the other side."

"But isn't it better to be on the side of good rather than evil? Shouldn't I be out there destroying evil?"

"If you destroy too much of it, the balance tips to the side of good. Something must happen to put it even once again."

"What would that be? What would tip the balance back?" She was afraid to hear the answer. Somewhere deep inside of her, she knew what would happen.

"I don't know, Alyssa. But do you want to find out?"

"No. I'm sorry, Missouri. For before," she looked at her with no more resentment or disdain. This woman had helped to point her in the direction she needed to go. Another guide had been found for her. The spirits were doing their best to get through to her. She only had to let them do their job and listen.

"I know why you feel the way you do, but you have to be careful. Don't take them with you on that road."

She knew to whom Missouri was referring. The chills that ran through her felt like a warning.

Alyssa was done. She needed a break. No hunts, no people, no ghosts, no nothing, just time to chill out and think.

The guys were outside waiting by the Impala.

"I'm going on vacation. You guys are welcome to come along. I have a place in the Arkansas Mountains." She retrieved her bag from the Impala and threw it in the Camaro's trunk and turned to face the two men who had become so important in this new part of her life. "With or without you, I'm leaving."

"Just like that. You're taking off again?" Dean knew something was going on, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what. And he still didn't want to lose sight of Alyssa. She was still the best weapon they had against the demon.

"You don't like it, you don't have to come along. I'll draw you a map, and you can show up whenever. I'm a big girl. I can make these choices on my own." She closed the trunk symbolizing the end of the discussion.

"And your choices could leave you open to the demon. We have to stick together, Alyssa." Sam wasn't willing to let her go so easily. He didn't want to seem desperate, but he really didn't want her to leave without giving him what he longed for.

"Thank you for the recap, Sam. But I know what I'm up against. Like I said, you're welcome to follow. You're choice." She got in the car, not looking at either of them; afraid they would see her silent plea for them to stop her, change her mind. The music blared through the open windows as she pulled out of the drive. She hesitated a moment, waiting to see what their choice would be.

Dean was steaming. Here she was running away again. When was she going to get it? They stick together, no matter what.

He hit Sam on the arm and cocked his head toward the Impala. They pulled out, waving goodbye to Missouri and followed the blue Camaro heading off in the distance.

This time she led the way. Freedom lay before her once more. "Don't take them with you on that road." Missouri's words echoed back to her.

'_You may very well end up killing one of them. Is this safe?'_ the voice had waited long enough.

I don't know anymore. I don't know where to go, what to do, who I am. No one has the answers but you and me. Guess we have to figure it out before I do kill one of them. Now, let me drive in peace.

The music invaded her thoughts, the lyrics she knew by heart. She sang along, letting the wind carry her voice away.

"So, do you think this is such a good idea? All of us in the mountains together, no one else around?" Sam was trying to make conversation, trying to get a feel for what the plan may be.

"Missouri said she's in the middle of something. If it has to do with that yellow-eyed son of a bitch, I want to be there to stop it. If there's a chance of killing him in this, I'm taking it." He was impressed with Alyssa's driving. She knew how to handle that Camaro like he could handle the Impala.

"I just don't know what we're supposed to do with her. Do we wait and see what the demon wants from her? Are we supposed to confront him with her?"

"Look, Sam. Alyssa told me she couldn't be near you. There's something in you wanting her to set it free. What is she talking about? And don't give me that 'I don't know' crap. You knew it in Kentucky, and you know it now. That's why you're not so sure about this," he gave his brother a wary look.

What did he tell him? Did he admit to knowing when they had sex, to feeling the inferno burn through him as they screwed their rage away? Did he confess how much he wanted her for himself, knowing she could give him what he wanted, what he needed?

"It's like knowing she has the key to the lock, but she doesn't know how to work it. In Kentucky, she found something in me that had been waiting for her. I wanted the power, Dean. I wanted to know what it was like to have something other than visions. I blew up that backboard. It was my power that shattered it." That was all he was getting out of him.

Dean didn't know what to say. His little brother wanted what the demon wanted: for him to have his powers, to go dark side. What do you say to that? May the force be with you? Not going to help. He secretly vowed to make sure Sam and Alyssa were never alone together, ever. Dad's last words again echoed through his mind.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The cabin hadn't been occupied for almost a year. They would need to stop and get supplies before heading up the mountain.

Alyssa parked in front of the local grocery store parking lot, the Impala pulling in next to her. She took a moment to push away the memories of her last visit here and put on her best game face.

Alyssa realized too late that taking Sam and Dean to the store was a nightmare. Where was the caution label for this?

After thirty minutes of bickering about sodas, steaks, and everything else under the sun, Alyssa sent Dean to the local hardware store across the street. They would need some supplies for repairs and weatherproofing.

Sam was assigned the job of procuring firewood. The nights could get a little chilly on the side of the mountain.

Finally alone, she finished the shopping and met the guys outside. They would have to follow her up to the cabin, because the roads were a bit tricky.

"Nice place," Dean mused, observing the massive size of the cabin.

Nestled at the end of a well-worn dirt road sat Alyssa's home away from the road. It was absolutely huge, sporting two stories. The porch wrapped completely around the front and sides of the cabin. A porch swing sat on the left side, and a couple of benches on the right made a nice conversation area.

Alyssa dug the key out of her pocket and walked up to the door. On the other side were memories. Was she ready to face them again?

"You okay?" Dean was holding two of the grocery bags, and Sam was waiting behind her with a couple of more.

"I'm fine," she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Alyssa turned on the lights. At least the electricity was still working, she spoke to the voice in her head, but she heard nothing in response.

She looked around, and it seemed nothing had changed. Things were a bit on the dusty side, but that was easily remedied with a good cleaning.

Her mother had decorated in a more conventional style, leaning towards the comfort of a cushiony couch while still maintaining the look and feel of a cabin in the woods.

Dean stepped in behind Alyssa, taking it all in. He was really impressed.

The first thing that caught his eye was the huge fireplace. Sam had said the firewood would be delivered within the hour.

The living space in front of the fireplace suggested Alyssa's parents were romantics. There was a bearskin rug on the floor strategically placed to enjoy a roaring fire up close and personal.

The kitchen was off to the right behind the massive dining table. It could comfortably seat six people, but eight wasn't impossible. He motioned for Sam to follow him to put the food away. They had to unload the cars and make sure everything was up and running before dark.

Alyssa made the rounds to check that all the light bulbs in the rooms were functioning and that there was running water in the two bathrooms.

Sam and Dean were loading the refrigerator and cupboards with the food. They kept things quiet and to themselves for the time being, not sure of what to say about their new surroundings.

After everything was in its place, Alyssa started the tour.

"There are three rooms upstairs. Each of us can have one, but I get the big one. It's my parents' room. You two can fight over the other two. There's a full bathroom on both floors; however, if someone needs to shower, no one can use the shower in the other bathroom."

Alyssa led the way up to the second floor of the cabin. At the top of the stairs was her room, or rather her parents' room. She still couldn't completely accept the room as her own.

She opened the door to reveal a king-size four-poster bed and a massive six-drawer dresser. Throwing her bag on the floor near the dresser, she sat on the bed and let out a ragged breath. Being here again was going to be harder than she first thought.

Sam and Dean walked past Alyssa's room, and at the next door, Dean called it.

"I'll take this one," he gestured towards the door.

"Why do you get this one?" Sam thought the next room would be just as big as Alyssa's.

"I'm older. I get first pick," Dean gave him that older brother cheesy grin as he opened the door to his room.

Pink! The room was pink!

Sam laughed as he walked down to his room.

Apparently, Dean had chosen Alyssa's old room. The double bed was covered with a comforter decorated with roses. The curtains on the small window were of the same fabric.

This is just perfect, Dean thought sarcastically. He threw his duffle bag on the bed and walked down to Sam's room.

Sam stood in what seemed to be a boy's room. Dean came in behind him seeing the bed was the same size as the other one only it was done in dark blues and reds.

Sam gave Dean as innocent a smile as he could.

Dean left his brother to talk to Alyssa with hopes of altering the sleeping arrangements.

Sam placed his bag on the bed. On the dresser under the window he noticed a picture. He blew the dust off the frame and could see a man, a woman, a girl about the age of nine or ten, and a young boy who looked maybe five or six years old.

He could tell the girl was Alyssa, so that should make the adults her parents and the boy her brother. Alyssa never mentioned having a brother. He wondered where they were right now.

The commotion outside drew Sam's attention away from the picture. He set it back down and walked out of the room to see what was going on.

The firewood had arrived, and Alyssa had set to chopping it up first, since it was her home. It was exhausting work, and thirty minutes of swinging the axe had her completely wiped out.

Dean took his turn, wanting to get some aggressions out and finish the chores before night fell. He swung the axe allowing each impact to take little bit of his anger with it.

Alyssa watched as Dean worked on the wood. She couldn't take her eyes off him watching his muscles contracting and straining with every swing. She remembered feeling those muscles under her hands. She was lost in the memory of his sweat mixing with hers. Her breath quickened as the fire within her burned.

Dean could feel her eyes on him. He made sure to swing the axe as hard as he could. He wanted her to watch every bead of sweat on his body. He was not sleeping in a rose colored bed tonight.

Sam saw Dean chopping the firewood and Alyssa watching him intently. He could see she was truly enjoying the show Dean was putting on for her. He knew his brother well and knew he would do anything to get out of sleeping in a pink bed.

He smiled to himself and sat down at the dining table with his laptop. He hoped he could get an Internet connection up here. He'd heard some talk in town about some mysterious deaths here in the mountains and wanted to check it out to see if there could be a hunt in the near future.

He knew Alyssa wanted to come up here for a break, but there were no vacations for a hunter. He opened his laptop and was pleased to see Alyssa's parents had not left technology out of their own vacations. He began his investigation.

There had been seven deaths reported over the last two years in the mountains. Most of them had been attributed to animal attacks, but a few were unknown because the victims were never seen nor heard from again. People would come into the mountains but never come out. The deaths and disappearances were reported around the same time of year, from spring to summer.

Sam did more digging on his computer, oblivious to Dean and Alyssa's return. He didn't notice he wasn't alone until he felt a smack on the back of his head.

"We're out there doing all the hard work, and you're in here surfing for porn. Typical." Dean huffed at his brother.

"No, I was checking out something I heard about in town. Seven deaths in these mountains in the last two years. All during the period between spring and summer."

Alyssa was more than a little perturbed that Sam had been looking at another hunt.

"We're supposed to be on vacation, Sam. Remember? No hunting. Vacation. Time to relax, unwind, have fun."

"I'm sorry. You're right. But I couldn't help myself. It's a habit, I guess." Sam closed his laptop. He was going to do his best not to be a party-pooper. "So, what do we do?"

"Well, we should get a fire going and probably get to making some grub," Alyssa headed for the kitchen. It had been a long time since she made a meal for more than one, so she was going to need a head start on this.

Dean caught her in his arms as she walked past him on her way to the kitchen.

"You need any help?"

His eyes sent her stomach fluttering. How does he do that?

"No, I think I got it. If I need any help," she reached up and lightly touched her lips to his, "I'll let you know," she whispered. And with that, she was off to cook a man-size meal for three.

The last time Dean and Sam had built a fire together it was to burn their father's remains. This fire should have been happier, but it still brought up hurtful memories for both of them. They sat on the sofa staring at the flames, much the same way they had done that night.

"Dinner will be ready soon," Alyssa was setting the table. Dean hopped up out of his reminiscing to give her a hand.

"Alyssa, there's four plates here. Who's the other one for?"

Alyssa mentally counted the plates she had set on the table. He was right. She had grabbed a fourth plate out of habit. She felt a piece of her shatter just a little bit.

"Sorry, habit," She took the plate to return it to the cupboard.

He didn't know what this was all about, but it went deep. He could see that. He also knew how much damage could be wrought by keeping secrets. The deeper they were, the more damage they did.

They sat down to a dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, salad, and pie was waiting for dessert. As they ate, each of them told stories from their childhood.

Dean and Sam talked mostly about the pranks they had played on each other.

Alyssa told of the adventures she used to have in her neighborhood with her friends.

Sam saw this as the perfect opportunity to ask her about the picture in his room.

"Alyssa, there's a family photo in my room. I can tell the girl in the picture is you, and the adults are your parents. But who's the little boy?"

Alyssa had forgotten about that picture in Zachary's room.

'_The time has finally come. Tell them.'_

I'll handle this, thank you.

"Yeah, I'll get that out of the room after dinner. The boy is my little brother, Zachary. He was five in that picture. I was nine."

Sam had been almost dead-on with guessing their ages. He waited for her to say more.

Dean sensed the tension in the room rising. He picked at his food, waiting to see where the conversation was headed.

"Where is your brother?" Sam was going to prod as long as Alyssa allowed.

"He's dead." That's it. It was out. She said it.

'_That's not what they need to know.'_

Shut up. She kept eating her dinner, ignoring their curious looks.

Dean had to say something now.

"How did he die? And when?" She never mentioned having a brother when they first met.

He thought back to the days when they'd hung out as friends. She did seem pretty easy around his brother. She always had a candy for Sam, and she had even invited him along to a movie. It was like she had had practice being a big sister. Now he knew she had.

"He died about a year ago. He was shot." She tried so hard to not think of that day.

'_Tell them the rest.'_

If you don't shut up, I'm going to drill a hole in the side of my head and watch you drain out.

'_You would die.'_

At least it would be peaceful and quiet.

"You two ready for pie? I've got whipped cream in a bottle in the fridge." She got up to get their dessert, effectively ending her part of the conversation.

Dean looked at Sam and shook his head. He thought it was best to let it go for now.

Sam nodded his agreement.

Alyssa returned with the pie and whipped cream. She served them each a slice and opened up the whipped cream bottle. She always had a problem with working the tops of those things, and usually ended up making a mess. Well, true to form, she screwed it up and sprayed whipped cream on Sam's face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sam," Alyssa tried so hard not to laugh.

But Dean wasn't hearing it. Fun at his brother's expense? Right on! He busted out laughing at Sam.

What's this? Alyssa thought. You think you're too cool for this? She sprayed cream on Dean's cheek.

Sam had his turn at laughing at his brother.

So, we want to play that way, do we? Dean chased Alyssa around the table until he caught her.

They wrestled with the bottle spraying whipped topping all over the kitchen table and each other.

Alyssa finally won the bottle back and threw it to Sam.

He attacked Dean with perfect accuracy, spraying whipped cream in his hair.

The bottle ran out just as Sam and Dean both had Alyssa on the floor making sure to cover her from head to toe.

It had been a long time since any of them had had a good laugh. It felt wonderful, and cleansing.

They cleaned up the whipped cream fight and the remains of dinner.

Sam took a shower first, leaving Dean and Alyssa to wait their turns. They couldn't sit on the furniture until they were cleaned up so they patiently waited in the kitchen.

Alyssa hopped up on the counter, the way she used to when watching her mother bake or her father clean the fish he and Zachary had caught on their daily expeditions to the river. But they weren't here anymore. She was all that was left of her family now.

Dean caught the haunted look in Alyssa's eyes. Even though he wanted to know more about her, he wanted to make sure she trusted him enough to talk for herself.

Sam had started to press too much, making her uncomfortable. Dean knew he didn't like being pushed to talk more than he wanted, and Alyssa was pretty much the same way.

"You missed a spot," he kissed her cheek where the spot of cream was supposed to have been.

Her breath caught in her throat at the touch of his lips. The thoughts of her family scattered to the winds. She was no longer in the past. She was here in the present, with him. She met his eyes matching the fire she saw burning in his. He wrapped her up in him, kissing her, diving into her. The world no longer existed as they felt the heat growing between them again.

"Uh-hum," Sam coughed. "Shower's free." He headed off to his room, hoping they would be at it again tonight. He was craving the burning, the release.

Showered and dressed, Alyssa sat on the sofa by the fire. She became entranced with the flames, losing herself in the past. There were many memories of this place: her family when they were at their happiest, and the more recent visit which wasn't something she wanted to remember. She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't notice Dean had entered the room and sat down near her.

The fire reflected in her eyes, reminding him of Sam's vision. He could see she was revisiting those far away places in her mind. He'd done it so many times, reliving moments he wished he could forget. Somehow, though, those memories always found their way back.

"Care to share?" He startled her, which brought a chuckle of amusement to his throat.

"Sorry," she recovered her wits. "Just thinking of a time long ago."

"I've done that myself a few times." Her skin glowed in the firelight. Her hair was still damp from the quick shower she'd taken so he'd have enough hot water for his.

Dean took Alyssa's hand and pulled her so she lay on him. They were so much alike: both haunted by a past, keepers of secrets, and warriors fighting for a side that seemed to not notice their efforts.

Dean thought about the women who had come into his life, not the ones who were passing fancies used for a night of uncomplicated sex, but the few who had touched him.

He had loved Cassie enough to tell her the truth. She shot him down, calling him crazy. Only after she needed him to help her with a vengeful spirit did she realize that he had been telling the truth. Even that hadn't changed anything, for she had said goodbye, permanently.

Alyssa had been the other one who could have been someone to him, early in his life. However, her disappearance had sent him on the path to becoming the cynical, cold heart he was today. But she was getting to him now. She was breaking through a few of the walls he had built around his heart and mind. He knew he could trust her with anything. He only had to learn to let it all go.

She leaned further into him, kissing him, not knowing what was going through his mind at that moment.

Alyssa was part of their world. She knew what was expected and what to expect. He could talk to her about their hunts, and she would understand and even learn from him. He could be honest and free with her. He kissed her intensely, wanting her to feel what he couldn't put into words.

The blood-curdling scream pierced the night, echoing across the skies.

Alyssa and Dean jumped up off the sofa and ran for the front door.

Sam had heard the scream too and was pulling on a shirt as he came out of his room.

"What the hell was that?"

All three of them became hunters again; their guns and flashlights appeared as if by magic. Locked and loaded, Sam, Dean, and Alyssa headed outside to find the origin of the scream. Doing a perimeter sweep around the cabin gave them nothing, so they went back inside, secured the cabin, and got to work. Apparently, Sam had been onto something earlier.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Sam was working on his laptop; any sleep now was beyond reach.

Alyssa and Dean were taking inventory of what weapons they had between them. She had been stockpiling weapons here in the cabin for long time giving them access to handguns, shotguns, and rifles, even dynamite if needed.

"What did you get on there, Sam? Anything we could use?" Dean was just finishing up with loading the sawed-off shotgun with rock salt rounds.

"Without talking to anyone, we really don't know what we're looking at. The medical examiner isn't releasing the details about the condition of the bodies they did find."

"What is the pattern as far as people coming into the mountains and those being found or reported missing?" Alyssa had been to these mountains several times. She had never once heard anything like the scream they had heard earlier.

"Well it seems the warmer months are the most deadly up here. Three hikers were here in April of last year, a woman and her two brothers. Only the brothers returned. They claimed they were being hunted by something. A month later, a couple arrived on their honeymoon. The man was left barely alive, but the woman was missing. That's interesting." Sam tapped some more on the computer, bringing up pictures of all the victims.

"What?" Dean and Alyssa looked at Sam from the other side of the dining table.

"All the victims were women. All were healthy, strong, and young. Almost like someone or something wanted the best of the female species."

"You don't think we have another people-hunting family do you?" That had been a hunt he didn't want to repeat.

"I don't know." Sam remembered all too well the nightmare to which Dean referred.

Alyssa didn't offer any theories. The last time she was here, it wasn't a pleasant experience. She had been so preoccupied with her own problem; she wouldn't have been any help to anyone.

"Should we head out now, or wait until first light?" Alyssa wanted to keep her mind off of the past. She was itching for a hunt now.

"We should wait until morning. I don't want to get caught by anything I can't see," Dean answered.

Alyssa would take the first watch so Sam and Dean could get some rest.

Dean was ready to crash on the sofa, but Alyssa offered him her parents' room for the night. She knew he wouldn't sleep in her old room if the rest of the cabin had been burnt to the ground.

Dean was relieved beyond what he could put into words. No pink bed for him.

Alyssa added another log on the fire. Her senses were at their peak, the adrenalin still running through her system. She checked her gun for about the seventh time. It was fully loaded and the safety was off. She looked around the cabin, alone with her memories.

The fireplace mantle used to be crammed with family photos. Her mother and father took pictures of her and Zachary on a daily basis. There had been pictures of her making cookies for the first time, of Zach riding a bike, the family on a boat. Pictures and more pictures had lined the walls. At least they did up until last year. She had taken them all down and packed them away, except for the one in Zachary's room. She had forgotten that one.

A loud rustling of branches broke her train of thought. Alyssa moved stealthily to the kitchen. It seemed to be coming from the back of the cabin, near the garbage.

Raccoons loved to get into their garbage. Her father had chased away quite a few and had been himself chased by a couple of the bigger ones. She wasn't too concerned, yet. Better to confirm it's a raccoon before waking the guys.

The sound stopped. Alyssa froze. Had it seen her? She stood still waiting for some sign of what was outside and where it had gone.

.

What the hell? She backtracked through the kitchen, ducking down behind the dining table. Maneuvering between the windows, she was able to see something was outside the cabin near the Impala.

And the something was huge. It must have been at least seven feet tall and hairy.

Alyssa thought to wake the guys, but if this was nothing but a bear looking for scraps, she'd never hear the end of it for sure.

She had made it past the windows and to the front door without being seen. She grabbed the doorknob with her left hand, raised the gun in her right to eye level, and slowly opened the door.

She had the thing in her sights, but only briefly. It sniffed the air and growled at her. It's teeth shown in the moonlight. It took off towards the woods, disappearing into the shadows. She chased after it, but not too far. The guys would kill her if she did something stupid like run into the woods in the darkness without backup.

She started reversing back to the cabin swinging around to make sure nothing was behind her, but the coast seemed clear so far.

She had reached the Impala and checked it to make sure it was locked up tight. Dean wouldn't want his baby damaged by intruding bears, but she found the Impala to be safe and sound.

Alyssa turned around to head back inside and came face to face with the monster. She couldn't see its eyes as the hair around its face kept the shadows too dark to see. She could feel its hot putrid breath on her forehead. It had facial hair and could have passed for a tall human with a shave and a haircut. It seemed to have been shedding or maybe had a skin condition; there was patches along its skin where hair was scarce.

The legends couldn't be true, could they? Of all the things that she had seen in her lifetime, this is the one legend that just didn't seem to fit the criteria for plausibility. Could their murderer be the one and only Bigfoot?

'_Deal with that later. Live through the now.'_

Got it.

The thing moved closer, sniffing her.

Good thing I took a shower, she thought.

Alyssa could only stand there for if she moved too quickly this thing could break her in half or maul her to death. She needed a distraction, and fast, but what? She wished the guys were here right now.

Wait a minute…they're asleep…I can get one of them up. She shot for Dean first since he was closest to the front of the cabin.

'_You have to reach him.'_

I know that. How about a helping hand for once? She shot back at the voice.

While the Bigfoot, or the huge monstrous something, was preoccupied with gelling her hair with its snot, she reached out with her mind. She tried to send herself out of her body, but the stress of being accosted by this thing's nose was preventing any success with that. All she could think to do was to punch her way into his dreams and wake him up.

She felt her mind split; the familiar twinge in the middle of her forehead let her know she was doing it right. The Bigfoot thing snorted harshly in response. He didn't seem to like what he just felt go through the air.

Well he won't like this either, but the hell with him, she thought.

She reached out again, this time with a tendril of power assigned to find him, just him. She had him locked in and could see him in her parents' bed. He looked peaceful. Time to wake up.

DEAN! She shot the thought to him feeling him jolt awake. It worked. Now all she had to do was hope he got the message of urgency and came looking for her.

The Bigfoot seemed to be angry. He, at least it looked like a he in the dark, was grunting rather loudly, still smelling her, but with more urgency now.

Using her gifts had just gotten her in a little more trouble than she had bargained for.

The Bigfoot sniffed her head and her face. She tried hard not to vomit right then and there from the rancid smell of the beast before her.

'_He might take that as an insult or something.'_

Do you think? She rolled her eyes at the voice in her head.

He dug his nose into the hair at her neck. He smelled her scars, leaving his face buried in her hair, breathing in the scent of her. He became even more agitated, roaring in her ear, and picking her up by her throat.

He doesn't seem to be happy with me, she thought as she fought back the panic in her mind.

"ALYSSA!" Dean and Sam ran out the door of the cabin with guns in hand. They couldn't believe the sight before their eyes, but they were hunters first, and something needed to be hunted.

Alyssa was being held at least three feet off the ground. The man-like thing was roaring at her, seeming to be angry about something.

"A little help would be nice," she choked out on the few breaths she could take.

The guys got the picture and squeezed off round after round. The bullets penetrated but the thing didn't drop dead. It screamed in agony, releasing her, and ran back into the woods.

They rushed to Alyssa's side, guns pointing in the direction they saw the hairy beast take off running.

Sam was watching the woods to make sure whatever it was wouldn't have a chance to come back.

Dean lifted Alyssa off the ground and carried her back into the cabin, with Sam covering their back.

"What the hell did I tell you about running off on your own?" Dean set her on the sofa and stoked the fire to get it roaring up again.

"Did you not see me there? I was right outside. Did that look like running off to you? Besides, I thought it was a bear. I certainly didn't need backup for that." She massaged her neck trying to rub away the feeling of being almost choked to death. "Did at least one of you hit that thing?"

"We both hit it, several times. But it didn't go down. Must have a tougher hide than we thought." Dean checked her over for any injuries.

"Do you have any idea what that thing is?" Sam was checking the locks on all the windows and doors.

"This is going to sound so weird, but I think it was a Bigfoot."

"You mean THE Bigfoot? Hairy guy, lives in the forests, seen on home video? That Bigfoot?" Dean thought she was kidding.

"Yeah. He seemed to be checking me out."

"Bigfoot's looking for a date? You don't strike me as his type. Not hairy enough." It was bad enough the yellow-eyed demon wanted her for a breeding cow, and Sam had already stepped over the boundaries of brotherly decency, now he had some hairy legend after her too.

"Guess I'll have to write a thank-you letter to the razor company for keeping me hair free."

Dean examined her neck looking for puncture wounds or severe bruising.

"Wait, you might be onto something with that," Sam fired up the laptop again. "The medical examiner did say there seemed to be evidence of sexual assaults on all the victims. This thing is looking for a mate: a strong female. But why?"

Alyssa felt a wave of nausea overcome her. She ran to the bathroom, heaving up whatever remained of her dinner.

Dean knocked on the door.

"Alyssa? Are you okay in there?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine," she took a few breaths to clear her head. "I'll be okay. Please. Go wait for me in the other room. I'll be out in a minute."

"You need anything, just yell, really loud." He left her to do whatever she needed to do.

Alyssa was sure the women were killed because the Bigfoot was trying to find someone strong enough to live through its mating ritual. Most likely, she was its next attempt.

'_You really know how to pick them, don't you?'_

Keep it up. I know where Dad's drill is. She cleaned herself in silence, preparing herself for what was to come.

"I'm going to get a couple hours of sleep. Wake me at dawn. This thing dies today," she announced to the men sitting at the dining table, as she made her way upstairs.

She crawled into her parent's bed, still smelling Dean on the pillow and sheets. She rolled herself up in his scent, wanting him here with her right now, but the thoughts of the Bigfoot's victims dying while they were being violated dashed any desires to share the bed. She fell asleep listening to the screams of the chosen women in her head.

Sam saw the way Dean looked at Alyssa. There was respect and admiration in that look, and perhaps there was a twinge of something more. He felt happy for his brother having found someone who could live up to the challenge that was Dean. If anyone could take him on and had a chance to win, Sam would stake any bet on Alyssa.

Funny, though, Dean wasn't the only one who wanted her. Sam was disappointed they hadn't had the chance to finish what they had started in the kitchen. He had become addicted to the burn, wanting the flames to lick his skin, the fire in his loins to be stoked to a raging inferno. Just thinking of what could have been sent the heat through his body.

The rest of the night went without incident. They had wounded the Bigfoot and knew they would have a trail of blood to follow.

"Sun's rising, Dean. You should go wake her up." Sam left the table to throw together something for them to eat before heading out.

Dean quietly walked into Alyssa's room. She had her arms wrapped around the pillow he had been sleeping on. She hadn't even undressed before lying down.

He didn't really want to wake her, as she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He kneeled down at the edge of the bed to watch her, noticing the tearstains on her cheeks. Something had gotten to her, and he figured it had to do with their new hunt.

Dawn couldn't have come early enough for her. Her dreams were anything but pleasant. She rarely had nightmares, unless they were someone else's.

She had seen the women the Bigfoot had taken. She had heard their screams, seen their blood, and watched the life leave them. But the dream hadn't stopped there. She had become one of the thing's victims. She was torn apart. Her body was violated over and over again as it ripped her to shreds.

Dean touched her shoulder hoping to gently rouse her from her slumber. Instead, she gasped for air as if she had been drowning, reaching for him, her lifeline out of the nightmare.

"Good morning to you, too," Dean choked out as Alyssa's arms pulled him tighter to her.

"Yeah, good morning," she released him slowly, making sure she was really awake and not dreaming again.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

They loaded up three packs for the hike making sure they had plenty of water, food, and ammunition. The woods were dense, and they could be out there for a while searching for the Bigfoot's blood trail.

There were numerous sightings of the man-like beast. But no one had been able to capture or kill one. They were thought to be peaceful creatures that lived amongst the forests out of the view of man. Sort of like the missing link between apes and modern man. Apparently, the experts were wrong. Bigfoot was to be feared, and this one was going to be the first one killed. They headed out on a historical mission not a single soul knew about.

Sam searched the edge of the woods near the cabin, following what he remembered to be the direction he saw the Bigfoot run off last night.

"Over here. I got it," he pointed to a blood splattered leaf. "Looks like he went this way."

Sam took the lead, keeping his eye out for the trail while Alyssa and Dean covered his back. They slowly made their way through the thickening forest.

Dean checked his compass when Sam spotted blood. He wanted to make sure they could find their way back after they disposed of the legend.

Alyssa kept a close eye on both men. If she were right, the creature wouldn't think twice about killing both Sam and Dean. He would see them as competition for her.

Why, oh why, am I the lucky one everyone wants?

'_You're the prom queen everyone wants a piece of on prom night.'_

Thanks for the words of wisdom.

The trek through the forest had gone on for four hours.

"I can't find any more of the blood. The trail ends here." Sam had stopped their progress at the end of a tree line overlooking a precipice.

Where had it gone? It couldn't have jumped off the steep cliff. Sam frantically searched for more signs to show them where the creature had gone.

Dean came across something hidden behind a tree. He yelled for his two companions.

"Hey, I think I found its escape hatch." Dean moved a set of low branches that had grown over an entrance to a pathway set in the side of the mountain. "Ready for this?"

"Big and Hairy, meet Short and Bitchy?" she clicked on the flashlight and stepped into the cave, her gun pointed straight ahead.

Sam and Dean followed behind with their flashlights illuminating the ground ahead of her, their own guns at the ready.

The decline of the corridor wasn't too steep. They could keep their guns steady, and the footing was solid as the descended. They had gone a couple hundred feet down when they came upon a lighted section of the path. Nature or perhaps the creature had carved out round holes as windows in the rock wall.

Sam surveyed the view from one of the openings. He could see the river a quarter of a mile or so away. They were still pretty high up in the mountain, but at least he could see the vegetation on the ground. They had to be getting close. He rejoined Dean and Alyssa.

"Are you sightseeing?" Dean whispered hotly to his brother.

The deafening primal scream echoed off the rock walls bouncing in all directions. They couldn't get a bead on its origin. There were three more darkened paths that led further into the mountain just ahead of them.

Where the hell was that coming from? Alyssa covered the path ahead.

Sam guarded the rear.

Dean was looking in shadows for any movement. He knew it knew they were here.

"I'll draw it out. You two find cover somewhere close. Stay out of sight and downwind." Alyssa took her backpack off and handed it to Sam.

"Hell, no," Dean protested. He swore she wasn't leaving his sight again, and he meant it.

"Dean, it wants a female. If I can get close enough to it, I can kill it." She handed him her gun. Behind her back, she had the birthday Bowie knife. It was getting its fair share of use these days. "You two need to be careful. This thing will think your competition for me. It will kill you on sight."

Sam and Dean could only back up the path they'd come down into the darkness to hide. They kept their eyes and guns trained on Alyssa as she played the part of bait.

"I'm here you hairy bastard," she whispered to herself. She could hear its footsteps somewhere. She steadied herself, her hand behind her back gripping the knife handle.

He was even more hideous in the daylight, covered in mud, pieces of grass and broken twigs matted in his body hair. He growled at her, his teeth close to human, but still retaining the sharpness of a carnivore.

She resisted the urge to run, letting this thing know she wasn't afraid of him. Her hand was still holding the knife behind her back, her fingers beginning to ache from the strain. She forgot about Sam and Dean, waiting for her to give them a signal to come down shooting.

The Bigfoot moved in closer a step, then two, sniffing the air.

Don't smell them, please don't. She remembered the guys were up further on the path. If he smelled them, things would go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye.

It was a face-off to see who would move first, Alyssa or the Bigfoot. Dean could see Alyssa crouched low, her hand behind her back. She was watching the creature, biding her time. As soon as he saw fur, he was pulling the trigger. This thing was not getting her, period.

As the standoff continued, Alyssa's anger began to roll inside her. She could feel the fear of the poor women who had become this thing's victims. The hate she held for this thing was building up inside her, feeding the anger, fueling the flames again.

Sam could feel the heat rising in him. Alyssa was doing something, but he wasn't sure what. His vision blurred a bit with the heat waves crossing his mind. He swiped his hand across his face, surprised to find the light sheen of sweat. Should he tell Dean? His breathing was becoming rapid as he fought the urges. Not now, he thought to himself.

The Bigfoot turned towards the pathway, smelling the air. He'd heard something coming from the direction of the guys.

She had to move now or they were dead. She shifted her weight to her left leg, readying to sweep its legs out from under it. Once down, her knife would go into the back of its neck, severing its spinal cord, dropping it dead. At least, that was the plan.

Just as she jumped up to sweep her leg out, the creature whipped around, knocking her off her feet. Alyssa hit the ground, momentarily stunned. She could hear shouting, and then the ground was gone. She knew the Bigfoot had her, and he was running fast through the dark paths of the mountain.

She heard them shouting after her, not knowing which way they had gone. She needed to bleed this thing so they could follow another blood trail. She pulled the knife from the sheath.

The Bigfoot felt her move and readjusted her body against his to keep her from wriggling free. The smell of him assaulted her threatening to roll her stomach. She didn't have the room to stab it, but she could cut it deep enough to bleed. She pulled the knife across its arm, hoping she cut tendons or something. The Bigfoot screamed and hit her, knocking her out.

The knife fell from her hands, the blade pointing the direction of the Bigfoot's escape.

Something had alerted the creature to their position. Dean wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't care. Alyssa was gone. He and Sam caught a glimpse of the thing running down one of the pathways, disappearing into the darkness, taking Alyssa as its prize.

They crept down the path the Bigfoot headed into, flashlights looking for any clue as to where they were going.

Dean's light fell upon something dark and slick on the ground, and it looked like blood. Was it Alyssa's? Dean felt the panic grow within him. Was she hurt? Was she dead? Her knife was on the ground coated in the same dark liquid. Had she cut the creature giving them a trail to follow much like they had done at the cabin? Dean hoped with everything in him that the blood was not hers.

Alyssa awoke to the light in her eyes, pain shooting across her forehead. She sat up slowly, waiting for the room to stop spinning.

She looked down at herself to see her clothes smeared with blood. The nightmare flashed through her mind, but she recalled the blood wasn't hers. She had sliced into that thing's arm right before everything went black. She hoped it had bled enough to lead the guys to her. Slowly rising so as not to cause herself any more dizziness, she took in her surroundings.

The mountain walls were decorated with blood splatters, lots of blood splatters. Here and there on the floor she could see pieces of body tissues. In the center of this room of horrors was what seemed to be a stone altar. A large flat round-shaped granite slab had been steadied on top of other slabs. The altar came to her shoulders in height, and it too was covered in blood.

She opened her mind's eye to see what had happened here. The images swarmed over her. The faces of the victims, their screams of agony, their last breaths. She placed her hand on the altar to steady herself but realized her mistake too late.

This thing wasn't the first. He was more like a third or fourth generation. More images of women from the past flashed across her mind. More death, more blood. She shut herself off again, but the pictures were now burned into her mind.

There's at least a year's worth of nightmares, she thought. Her constant companion was quiet today.

Knowing she didn't have a chance against the Bigfoot alone, she headed back up the path she assumed would lead her back to Sam and Dean. With no light to guide her or weapon to protect herself she carefully made her way back to the guys, hoping she wasn't too late.

Feeling her way through the darkness, Alyssa listened for anything that could tell her if the beast was close or if the guys were closer. She wasn't sure how far down the mountain she had been taken.

She stopped as a chill ran up her arms. A woman's voice spoke to her. She was telling her…. the wrong way. She had chosen the wrong path.

The prize wasn't behind door number two, Monty.

Damn! She had to get back to the altar room before the guys did. The Bigfoot could be waiting for the chance to kill his opposition.

Alyssa ran as fast as she could in the darkness, unsure of the footing that was available. She could see Dean and Sam up ahead, scanning the room for any sign of her or the creature. They had heard her approach, pointing their guns right at her.

"Don't shoot guys! It's me," she had almost made it to them.

In a flash of fur, Dean was thrown against the far wall, crumpling to the floor, unconscious.

Sam was able to get off one shot before he too went flying into another wall. He didn't go down as fast as Dean had, but he still went down.

Alyssa waited to see if the Bigfoot was going to stick around. Seeing him flee the room, she ran to Dean, but he wasn't moving.

Please don't be dead, she begged.

She put her fingers to his neck and found his pulse was steady. He was just knocked out.

"Is he okay, Alyssa!" she heard Sam yell to her.

"He's alive, but I'm not sure about okay," she stood up to tend to Sam but was met with a hand grabbing her by the throat once again.

The beast picked her up off the ground and slammed her on the altar, knocking the wind from her. She struggled to clear her head and gain her breath. The panic of what was to come threatened to swallow her, but she fought to maintain control.

Sam was up again, slowly moving away from the creature as it approached him, its teeth bared. His ribs hurt from the impact with the wall, but he pushed that all aside. He needed to keep moving, keep it distracted long enough for Dean to recover or for Alyssa to find a weapon.

'_Calm yourself and kill this thing.'_

No problem. Got a tank? She was glad to hear the voice, but it wasn't forthcoming with the useful information on how to defeat this thing.

Alyssa moved off the altar slowly so as not to attract the Bigfoot's attention. Her knife was on the ground, near Dean. He'd found it and was bringing it to her. She picked it up feeling how nicely it fit in her grip, the weight perfectly centered for the best kill.

The rage was back, full force this time. This wasn't a bar, and he wasn't some stupid drunk hoping to get a piece of ass. This was a fight for survival. A battle to be won not lost. The fire leapt behind her eyes, the inferno was growing.

Sam felt the change in Alyssa. He did his best to keep his attention on the creature lumbering after him. He'd barely missed getting his head knocked off by an arm the size of his leg.

Feeling her heat growing, he looked to see where Alyssa had positioned herself. She was on the ground, crouching with her knife in her hand. He could almost see the fire in her eyes, the rage burned in her face.

That small distraction was enough for the Bigfoot to swing its arm around sending Sam crashing into the wall opposite of his unconscious brother.

Alyssa saw her opening. She jumped on the altar stone and leapt across the room to land on the back of the Bigfoot. She screamed as she plunged her knife into its back, twisting it deeper.

The Bigfoot's screams of pain echoed off the walls, helping to bring Sam's attention back to what was happening. He could see the Bigfoot grasping for air as Alyssa maintained her position clutching the hair on its back, her knife buried to the hilt.

Sam watched as the Bigfoot slammed Alyssa into the wall, using its body weight as leverage. Even though she looked like her body had been broken in the impact, she still wouldn't let go, but the lights were just about out for her.

Sam saw the gun at his feet, picked it up, and aimed at the Bigfoot's kneecap firing two rounds. The two well-placed shots brought the Bigfoot forward, preventing him from smashing Alyssa into the wall again.

She rolled off of the Bigfoot as he hit the ground. He wasn't dead yet, but he would be soon. She started to crawl towards him to retrieve her knife and stab him again.

Sam pulled her up and away, holding her to him, the gun still aimed at the beast on the floor. He moved, and Sam instinctively pulled the trigger two more times. He finally lay dead in a spreading pool of blood.

She wasn't satisfied. The rage in her was still burning, fueled by the fight with the Bigfoot. Dean was still unconscious and wouldn't be up to what she needed for a while.

Sam was holding her, keeping her out of danger, his own anger running through his veins as he had shot the Bigfoot.

She could feel him, the need in him calling to her. It was so much stronger than with Dean, and it felt like it belonged to him.

_Give it to him, Alyssa. Make him one of us. Bring him to me. Your fire will grow with him._ The new voice whispered to her, the voice of the demon.

'_Don't listen, Alyssa. This is the road she was talking about. Don't do it.'_

How do I stop it once it's risen like this? Dean should be here, taking this with me, not Sam. How do I stop? The wrath was reaching for Sam, wanting him to have it.

Sam let her rage stoke his own. Her heat was scorching his skin, like being burned by the sun, but without the pain. The need in him awoke, angry and hungry, knowing it had been denied for too long, and it was his turn, at last.

_Take her, Sam. It's time. She's ready for you. She's all yours now._ The demonic voice was in his head now, guiding him to what belonged to him.

Sam heard the voice in his head telling him to take her, but he didn't want to take, he wanted her to give him what was meant for him.

She knew this wasn't supposed to happen, it shouldn't happen, but she hadn't the strength to pull it all back. The power wanted out, and it found the one who was strong enough to take it all.

'_This is what the demon wants, Alyssa. You have to stop him.'_

She didn't have time to answer.

Sam's eyes were darkening, his fury and desire rising fast and furious. He lifted her to his eye level, and pressed her against the wall of the cave, kissing her with the fervor of a madman.

The impact of her body between him and the wall sent the flames in her body reaching higher. It all wanted release, her skin stretched with the pulsing of the power.

_Give it to him, and it will no longer hurt you, Alyssa. You'll be free and powerful._ Somehow the demon had a way into her mind, and he knew what she was doing.

Sam saw the burst of fire behind his own eyes. He was so close now, one more step and she was his, and so was the power he was destined for. He wanted to be inside her, feeling the pain and wrath course through his own body as she fed him, opening him.

Sam kept her against him, moving them to the altar stone. He moved his body against her, giving her the hate, rage, and pain that had become his life, feeling it mix with hers, waiting for her to give it back.

Alyssa couldn't see past the fire, the flames were everywhere now. She was so close to letting it all go.

'_No, Alyssa, don't do this. Think of him. Remember him.'_

Remember him, she repeated in her mind. She thought the voice was referring to Dean, but the face in her mind was of someone else. His brown hair and brown eyes, like hers, his smile, his laugh, his face as he cried his last tears.

The image in her mind stole her breath, bringing with it the sorrow she'd hidden for so long. With the despair and sense of failure came the darkness to swallow her, calming the flames of her anger and rage.

Sam could feel the power weakening. She was pulling it all back, the flames receding from his grasp.

"No, it's mine. I want it, Alyssa. Give it to me," he growled into her neck, smothering himself in her scent.

Dean came to, breathing the scorching air into his lungs. The stars in his eyes slowly flittered off revealing his brother on top of Alyssa on the altar stone.

Somehow things had gotten way out of hand while he had been unconscious. He stood up, holding the wall to steady himself.

He could see the fear in Alyssa's eyes and heard Sam's angry voice demanding she give him what was his.

The quickest way out of this would also be the most painful for Dean. He hit his little brother across the back of his head with the butt of his gun, watching him slump into oblivion.

She tried to push Sam's unconscious body off of her, desperate to be free. The flames were no longer raging through her. The memories had doused the fires, leaving the ice-cold dread in their wake.

Dean moved Sam laying him on the ground at the foot of the altar table, realizing he would have to sleep this off before they could leave.

Alyssa quickly scooted off the stone and crouched down in a corner, hiding her face, trembling from the aftermath of what she had almost allowed to happen and the memories flooding her soul.

"You okay?" Dean knelt before her, wanting to help her, but not knowing how. He looked back at his brother's sleeping form.

"What's wrong with me, Dean?" she was on the verge of tears.

"Was it the demon again?"

She nodded her head. "I heard him. Telling me it wouldn't hurt anymore if I just gave in."

"What wouldn't hurt anymore?"

'_You should tell him now. He needs to know all of it.'_

"The past. I think he meant the past, but I don't know for sure," she could see the worry in Dean's green eyes.

'_He probably thinks you want to destroy his brother.'_

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." she left the present, slipping back to the past somewhere, repeating the same thing. "I'm sorry."

"Alyssa," he held her face in his hands, wiping away the sweat and dirt from her cheek. He could see her eyes held fear, anguish, and horror deep within them. "We'll figure this out, remember? I told you we would. There's nothing to be sorry about."

He wasn't sure if what he spoke was true or not. Could he figure this out? Did he even have the first clue as to what to do?


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

They couldn't wait any longer for Sam to wake up of his own accord. They needed to get back to the cabin before dark, and the sun was just beginning its trek towards the western horizon. He shook Sam's sleeping form.

"Sam, you need to wake up. We need to get going."

Sam groaned, holding his pounding head. Focusing his eyes, he looked up to see his brother looking down on him, realizing he was horizontal, but not remembering how he had ended up on the ground.

His vision cleared enough to reveal the body of the Bigfoot next to him. He jerked away in case the thing moved, not sure if it was still alive.

"Don't worry. It's dead. "Alyssa took two of the backpacks and handed the third to Sam as he got off the ground. Dean didn't look like he could handle carrying any extra weight for the hike back to the cabin.

There was an uncomfortable silence amongst them as they made their way through the forest. No one could think of the right thing to say to anyone, so they chose to remain quiet.

They followed the same paths up the mountains that were used by the Bigfoot. From there, Dean guided them with the compass points he had committed to memory.

Just as the sun was sinking beyond the tree line, they made it to the cabin, threw off their packs, and each headed for a shower.

It was time to check for wounds and administer any necessary first aid.

Alyssa looked Dean over first. The nasty bump on the back of his head would be fine in a few days, but she was more concerned about the tenderness in his side.

Lifting his shirt off, she could see the bruises on his back; the largest was on his left side. His ribs were tender, but not broken, so he would heal in a week or so.

Dean knew Alyssa was hurt, but she didn't show it. She hadn't gotten the worst of the attack, but she'd been dealt a fair amount of damage for her size. She wore only a tank top and jeans so he could survey the damage.

"Doesn't look too bad," he lied. From the size of the bruise across her back, she'd be sore for the next month.

"It doesn't feel like it's not too bad. Everything's already starting to stiffen up," she moved the muscles in her back hoping to loosen and relax them.

The movement of her body, the way her muscles seemed to move like water under her skin made him hungry for her. He wanted her, but he couldn't get the images of her on the altar with Sam out of his mind. There were dark forces at work, and he didn't know how to stop them.

Resisting his body's demands for her, Dean headed for the bedroom door, stated flatly, "I need to go and check on Sam," and closed it behind him.

Sam was sitting at the dining table, flipping through the pages of Dad's journal. Dad had kept a detailed account of creatures and legends he had come across in his twenty-three year career as a hunter.

He wasn't sure what he would find or what he needed to find. Was he hoping to find something about the Bigfoot in the book or was he searching for answers as to what was happening to him?

Dean watched his brother from the top of the stairs. He and Sam had been through a lot in their lives. They lost their mother at a young age, lived a life of nomads holing up in motel rooms, attended different schools, and learned to become hunters of the supernatural. They were closer now than they had been in years, but something was changing his little brother.

Dean descended the stairs and sat across from Sam, the journal spread out between them. He shut the book forcing Sam to look at him.

"Who killed it? I was out. Who gets the credit?" Dean stared into his brother's eyes, hoping he'd still see him in there.

"The Bigfoot? I did, I think. Alyssa had her knife buried in its back, but it hadn't gone down. I shot it in the knee twice and once it hit the ground, I put two more bullets in its head."

"What about after that? What happened then?"

Sam thought about what he had felt after the Bigfoot was dead. The heat, the flames, her mouth, her body against his. He remembered it all, wanting it, hearing the voice in his head telling him to take her.

"The demon. He was in my head again. I could feel her hate for the Bigfoot. It was like being on fire, but there's no pain. Dean, what did I do?"

"Nothing. That bump on the back of your head is from me." He didn't want to tell him just how close he'd come to getting the power he wanted.

Sam rubbed the tender spot on the back of his skull. He had been so close to it again, but she had stopped it, shut it down like water on a match.

"Let's take a look at you." Dean checked his brother over, noting the bruising on his back and shoulder, but no broken bones. They got lucky on this hunt, so there would be no need for doctors or hospitals.

The injury inventory taken, Dean was looking forward to sleeping this day off. "I'm hitting the sack. You should get some sleep, too. See you in the morning."

"Yeah, I will. See you in the morning, Dean." Sam sat alone for another hour sifting through Dad's journal.

What was wrong with him? Why did he want to be like the other psychic children? Shouldn't he just be satisfied with what he could do?

He'd been able to move the hutch in Max's house, but that was because of the vision he'd had of his brother's death. The emotion of it all had burst out, punching the air, moving the hutch.

Maybe that was all it took, the emotions. Makes sense as to why Alyssa's anger could catch him, making him want her.

The rage she felt for some reason touched the anger within him, feeding it, making it stronger. She was then feeding off that herself, rolling it in with hers and….

Sam shook his head for it was too much for him to comprehend right now through the exhaustion from the hunt. He headed off to bed, hoping to sleep peacefully this time.

Dean knew she wasn't asleep as he entered the room. She lay on the bed looking out the window, the moonlight shining on her face, making her skin glow.

He groaned as he settled into the bed next to her, knowing tomorrow morning was going to be painful, very painful.

She had said the past hurt, and if she gave into the demon, it wouldn't hurt anymore. Should he press her for information, or should he just let her do it on her own time?

Her heart raced as she heard him come in the room, stripping off his clothes before getting into the bed with her. His painful groan reminded her of how close things had come to falling apart today.

'_Tell him everything. It's the only way, Alyssa.'_

The only way to what?

'_To let go of the pain.'_

What if I don't want to let it go?

'_Then it will kill you, or one of them.'_

Dean laid his hand on her shoulder, turning her to him. He started to speak, but she cut him off with a finger to his lips.

"Shhh, I promise. I will tell you everything tomorrow." She kissed him gently, tasting him this time.

There was no rage, no anger, and no flames, only her lips kissing him. Her scent was hers again, the fragrance that took him back to the days that seemed a lifetime ago.

She wanted to feel him and only him. She'd had enough of living with the pain of her life. The time had come for her to let someone else carry the burden of her past, but not tonight. She only wanted to feel human and ease her human needs.

The moon shone down on the two bodies moving together, watching over them, and giving them her blessing.

The rising sun brightened the room and woke her from her restful slumber. It had been a long time since she'd had a good night's sleep. Of course, it hadn't started out that way. Remembering their lovemaking last night brought a smile to her face. She turned towards him lying next to her.

He was snoring lightly with his back to her, giving her the view his skin showing the signs of their fight yesterday, the bruises along his side darkening. She would have to put some arnica on them today. It would hasten the healing process, and the bruises wouldn't look so awful.

Alyssa moved off the bed, trying not to wake Dean, and made her way to the bathroom mirror. And from the looks of it, she would need to get more arnica

'_You look like hell.'_

Thanks.

She dressed in her usual jeans, t-shirt, and boots and went outside to greet the morning sun.

He was in the Impala, driving down a long stretch of highway. Sam was riding shotgun, Alyssa was behind the driver's seat, and Bigfoot was hanging his head out of the window behind Sam like a dog. Everything seemed okay, except for the constant thumping sound coming from the car. He'd changed the oil, gave her a tune-up, and even washed her. What was going on now? The thumping sound continued steadily.

Dean woke up wondering why the hell Bigfoot would be in the back of the Impala. Weird, he thought. He looked next to him and saw the bed was empty. He could still hear the rhythmic thumping sound coming from somewhere. He rose out of the bed slowly, ignoring the complaints of his tired and beaten muscles.

Her body had started out not wanting to do the chores, but after a few swings of the ax, her muscles had loosened up and the pain subsided a bit. Each whack of the ax head contacting the wood bounced off the trees around her. With each swing, she felt more serene, at peace with herself. The anger was diminishing, the fires were being put out, and her life was under her control once more.

Dean grimaced in pain as he pulled his shirt over his head. The smell of fresh-brewed coffee hung heavy in the air as he walked downstairs.

He found the source of the thumping that had permeated his dream. Alyssa was chopping more wood and seemed to be lost in deep thoughts. He watched her for a few minutes, wondering how she could swing the ax after their hunt yesterday.

"What's she doing?" Sam's sleepy voice followed him to the window.

"Killing a tree." Dean headed to the kitchen to grab the biggest cup of coffee available.

"Is she even human? I can barely move." Sam rubbed his shoulder, continuing to watch her as she swung the axe over and over again. "We look like wusses compared to her."

"Speak for yourself." He gave Sam a cocky eyebrow.

Coffees in hand, Sam and Dean joined Alyssa outside.

"Good morning, guys." Another swing.

"You do know it's Sam's turn to chop wood?" Dean volunteered his brother.

"Nope. You guys get to make breakfast," another swing split the log in half, "Just don't burn anything."

"Guess we should get started." Sam smiled at the thought of Dean making eggs. This should be interesting, he thought.

Forty-five minutes and half a dozen burnt eggs later, breakfast was on the table. Alyssa had finished showering and changed her clothes, joining them at the table.

"There's enough wood for tonight, but someone will need to chop more for tomorrow," she eyeballed Sam for that job.

"I know. My turn. We're going to need more eggs. Dean had a fight with a few of them."

"Did not."

"I'll stop at the market today and get more. I know you guys aren't into it much, but this place needs a good cleaning up if we're going to be hanging around a while longer. I could use the help," she bit off a piece of her burnt toast.

"Sam's a whiz with a mop," Dean jested about his brother.

"Yeah, you should see Dean in his French maid outfit dusting the fireplace. He's absolutely adorable."

Dean glared at Sam, and Sam glared at Dean. They all broke out laughing at the thought of Dean in an apron.

"Not what I had in mind," she giggled, "but we can go with that."

"So, your parents would come up here for vacation? But they would still have everything like electricity, a washing machine, and Internet service?" Dean loved the idea of barely roughing it out in the woods. Beat the hell out of really roughing it.

"My folks were pretty important people, so when they went on vacation, they weren't really on vacation. They still had to be in touch with certain people, keep tabs on things at the office, and have clothes ready to wear in case of emergency meetings. The Internet thing I added the last time I was here."

Avoiding another talk about her family, Alyssa got up to clear the table.

Dean followed her into the kitchen, carrying his own dishes.

"I know I promised, Dean. But it's not that easy, okay. I can't just sit down and let it all pour out. It's been locked up for so long, I don't know how to open the door."

"I get it. I do, trust me. But if there's something in your past that could explain what the hell's going on with Sam, then we have to know."

"I know," she whispered. Holding the surfacing panic at bay, she squared her shoulders and walked back to the table sitting down between Dean and Sam, hoping they would be the pillars of strength she would need to withstand the emotional roller coaster she was about to ride.

"I guess I should start at the beginning." She took a deep breath and walked into the darkness of her past. "My mother must have had some powers, something she could do. I never got the chance to find out, but she always knew what Zach and I were doing, where we were, or what we were thinking. And she had the best knack for knowing when we were hurt or in trouble. She would show up with exactly what we needed to make us feel better."

"Zach and I had a really close relationship because of the special gifts we shared. We could talk to each other without saying a word, telepathy. I was better at it then Zach, but he was just learning. I'd had a few more years of practice on him by the time he figured out what he could do." A small smile spread across her lips, "I remember one year, Zach tried to keep my birthday presents a secret. But he wasn't as good at keeping things locked up tight like I could, so it slipped out. He was so pissed at me, until I taught him how to do it too."

Her mood darkened, her face grew hard. She was trying to shut down her emotions, making ready to travel the road she'd tried so hard to erase from her mental map.

"We all have reasons for living this life, for hunting the demons and ghosts, right?" she looked to Dean first and then to Sam.

They nodded their agreement, not wanting to say anything to distract her from her course and remembering their own reasons for being who they were.

"You lost your mother, and now your father. I lost my whole family. Zach and I were doing our telepathy talking in bed. He was still awake from the birthday cake we'd had after dinner. We'd celebrated my tenth birthday at the water park, and he just couldn't sleep. He told me he could hear the voices again. I thought he was playing around, and I told him it was just mom and dad talking in bed. But he'd said something weird. He said they were talking about me, how I was the key, and how much blood there was."

"I asked him how he could hear them, and he told me to just listen. So I did, and I heard them. Laughing, talking about me. I got really scared and ran to my parents' room to tell them what Zach and I had heard. We tried to keep our telepathy a secret from them, but I had to at the least tell my mom what we could do and what we had heard."

'_Finish it. Tell them everything.'_

Do they have to know the details? I can't take this, she screamed at the voice.

'_Everything. Tell everything.'_

"Are you okay?" Sam could see the inner struggle she was having with revealing her past. She had stored up so much, it wasn't going to be easy getting it all out.

"When I got to their room, something felt so wrong, and I could hear the voices laughing louder. I turned on the bedroom light and…there was so much blood. It was everywhere," she could see the scene playing out in her mind. "My father was holding the knife. But it wasn't him. I knew it wasn't him. His eyes were black. They kept laughing, the voices were just laughing."

"Did the demon that possessed your father say anything?" Dean wanted to get her mind off the image of her mother, distract her with other details.

"No. He…it smiled at me, and then left."

"What did the voices say about you and your brother?" Sam had caught something in her description of the past. Whatever she could remember could hold the key to their surviving this.

She closed her eyes, trying to remember what she had heard that night. "Something about my destiny linked to their victory. I remember that because it was the clearest thing I heard. The rest was just mumblings and laughter."

'_Keep talking.'_

Give me some room to breathe, okay?

She had recovered from that particular trip down memory lane, but now came the big guns. "Three years ago, my brother started hearing the voices again. I got word my aunt and uncle put him in a mental hospital. I visited him regularly, trying to figure out what he heard, what he knew. All he would tell me was that I was chosen."

She stopped her recounting wondering if she could have done things differently, if there was something she knew that could have saved her brother.

"Alyssa, we can stop if you want?" Dean didn't want her to feel that she was under pressure to finish the story.

"No, I'm okay. About a year and half ago, I started getting phone calls from the doctors telling me Zachary had been having migraine headaches and horrible nightmares. He'd been ranting and raving on about how there were big plans for him. The man with yellow eyes had great plans for him. They were upping his meds, but he wasn't even fazed by them, and one fine summer day, my brother walked out of the front doors of the hospital. Of course, not until after he'd killed three people, crushing them from the inside."

Dean now knew her connection to the demon, her brother.

"My brother's power was the ability to crush things: cars, rocks, people, hearts, lungs, and bones. I followed him for three months, trying to catch up to him, so I can help him, or stop him. I finally found him in our old house. The family that lived there didn't survive his…. He'd killed the husband, the wife, even the dog."

"I found Zachary in the back yard, on our old tire swing," she had to take another deep breath.

'_When you're done, you'll feel better.'_

Before or after they leave me here when they hear the rest?

"What happened, Alyssa, when you found him," Sam was trying to let her know they were there for her.

"He had the little boy, holding him in the air, just hanging him there. I tried to talk to him, get him to let the little boy go. He was only six for crying out loud. His mom and dad were dead, and he was crying," Alyssa shook with the strain of trying to retain control of herself.

Dean thought back to Lucas, the boy he had saved from drowning. He'd been an innocent child caught up in the aftermath of his grandfather's deepest secret.

"Zach told me about the yellow-eyed man's plans for him. He was to be a soldier in an upcoming war, a war to decide the fate of man. I begged him to let the kid go, so we could come up here. He loved it up here in the mountains," she took another deep breath, "but he ignored me and started to crush the kid's bones, toes first. I had to stop him, so I shot him in the shoulder. I called 911 for the kid and his family, and I brought Zach up here."

Alyssa stared at the chair across from her, still seeing his face, his eyes wild. "I tried everything I could to help him. I called priests to perform exorcisms, voodoo priests and priestesses to do what they could, even a High Priest and Priestess of a local coven. I tried my own charms, spells, and amulets. I swear I didn't give up for over six months, but he just kept getting worse."

Dean knew there was more to this. He could feel the end coming, and he had a feeling it wasn't good.

"We made it through the winter, and when spring came, I had to make a choice. I couldn't let him go. He was too dangerous, and nothing I did worked to bring him back. The brother I knew wasn't there anymore."

"How come he didn't try to kill you, if he had the power to?" Dean knew the answer to the question, because he had seen her abilities first hand.

"I don't know. He may have tried, but I guess I wouldn't have known, considering what I can do now, right?" She looked at Dean with the guilt written across her face, "Do you think I could have stopped him then, cured him?"

Sam eased her guilt, "You're brother wasn't possessed like the blonde at Bobby's. He was simply going insane from the demon's influence. Not something you could have helped him with, Alyssa." Sam had seen Max's mental demise at the hands of not only his family, but also due to his own abilities, headaches, and nightmares.

Alyssa looked at the chair across the table from her. They wouldn't have seen it, but there was a chip in the wood of the chair backing, where the bullet had gone through him.

"I sat him down in that chair," she motioned her head towards the chair, "and I begged him to come back to me. I wanted my little brother to come back," one tear escaped her iron-grip. "He just kept laughing at me, telling me I was so important. I started to hate him, because he wouldn't stop talking about my supposed destiny. I had the gun hidden under the table, so he couldn't see it. I told him I loved him, and I pulled the trigger. The bullet went through the edge of the table and hit him in the chest."

Dean remembered seeing the picture in her sketchbook of a young boy suspended in the air and a young man with a hole in his chest. She had envisioned her own brother's death. She knew she was going to have to kill him before she actually did it.

"I held him as he died. He was crying, telling me he was sorry. His last words were 'I love you, Sissy.' He used to call me that when we were kids."

She had finally told the deepest secret she had to the two people she knew she could trust, and she should feel as though the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. However, she couldn't find the peace in having released herself from her emotional self-imprisonment.

Dean got up from the table and walked over to the other side, looking for the bullet hole. He leaned down and saw the hole in the table skirt. He examined the chair and found the piece of wood that had been nicked.

Sam hadn't wanted to move or speak the entire time Alyssa told her story. And now, he wanted to get up to look for the evidence himself, but for some reason, he was numb and unable to move a muscle.

Her story, her life, was exactly what he had envisioned for himself after Dean had spilled the beans on their father's parting words. If Dean couldn't save him, he'd have to kill him. It seemed their final moments would play out pretty much as Alyssa's had with her brother.

Dean's face became a wall of stone as he realized the implications of what he'd just heard. Unable to be in the room with his brother and Alyssa, he stormed out of the cabin, stopping at the Impala's bumper, trying to keep his temper in check.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Are you going to be okay, Alyssa?" He couldn't believe she'd told the whole story without breaking down into a shattered mess of tears and tissues.

"Yeah. Go get him." Alyssa could only imagine what thoughts were roaring through their minds. She needed to be alone as much as Sam needed to be with Dean.

Sam followed Dean out of the cabin. His brother was leaning against the Impala, looking off into the trees. He knew Dean's thoughts were once again hearing the words their father had spoken to him just before passing away.

"Dean," he started.

"Don't," shaking his head, he continued. " Don't say it."

"Man, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Dean couldn't look his brother in the eyes.

"For making you promise."

"She had the guts to do it, Sam. I don't even know if I could if it came down to it, even with the promise."

Sam couldn't think of what to say to ease his brother's conscience. They could only look into one another's eyes, knowing each would die for the other.

The sound of breaking glass broke the silence between them.

Dean made it through the door first, only to be struck by the heat once again.

"You go," he pushed Sam away from the door and handed him the keys to the Impala. "Take the car, go to town, and get some eggs. Whatever. Just don't come back until I call you. You got your phone?"

More glass shattered inside the cabin, followed by angry, rage-filled screams.

"Yeah, I have my phone. Be careful, Dean." Sam knew he had to leave now or fall victim to Alyssa and the demon once again. But pulling himself away from her was like a druggie trying not to reach for the needle sitting on the table.

Dean waited until the car was out of sight before going back inside the cabin.

Alyssa had found the box of her family pictures and was throwing them, glass and all, into the unlit fireplace. As each picture crossed her vision, she became more and more enraged, feeling alone, betrayed, and forgotten.

Dean made his way around Alyssa coming up on her back. He caught her arm mid-swing with a picture of her and her mother. The heat burned through his nerves again, finding that anger inside of him.

"Stop, Alyssa." He tried to stay calm, keep his mind on her, and not feel the fire blazing within him.

"No! I hate them all." She pulled with all her might to free her arm, wanting to destroy her past so the future would not be.

"No, you don't. You're angry. I get it," he turned her towards him, still gripping her arms. "You're not the only one who has to face this."

She felt the heat spiraling again, bringing him with it, and scorching her skin.

Dean let her go, just to give himself some space to catch his breath and refocus his thinking.

"My mother betrayed me! My mother knew what she was, knew what I was. I am the last woman in my family line. That means something doesn't it? I can't have any children of my own, so I'm supposed to be important, right? I can't have a normal life, because I hunt monsters, Dean. You know this just as well as I do. Zach was all I had left, and I had to kill him. I held him in my arms as he died!"

The fireplace exploded, the fire disintegrating her family pictures.

Dean stepped back as the flames licked at the mantle.

How did she do that? He needed to get her to calm down or she was going to kill them both.

'_Calm yourself.'_

I don't know who or what you are, but I'm sick of you interfering. Now leave!

Alyssa grabbed her forehead as she felt the heat sear through her mind, dropping her to the bearskin rug.

"Alyssa!" Dean caught her as she went forward. Her skin was feverish again, like back at the motel. "Hey, look at me. I know what it's like to carry a secret. I know all about the pain, the job and what it takes from you, and I know about family."

She looked up at him, her eyes searching him for the truth. He wasn't lying to her. He really did know.

"I don't know what to do anymore, Dean. I'm scared." She grabbed for his arms, pulling herself into him, wanting to just disappear.

Dean could only hold her and hope the heat wave assaulting him would dissipate.

The thoughts of his own family ran through his mind. His mother had never known about this world. His father didn't know about it until his mother was gone. And this was all he knew; from as far back as he could remember.

And it seemed she hadn't been able to deal with living this life alone, for here she was, alone, afraid, and apparently powerful enough to start fires, he thought.

The flames eventually died out as the fuel within the fireplace was consumed. Alyssa sat on the sofa, curling her legs under her, thinking of nothing. She certainly didn't want to start any more fires, so thinking no particular thoughts kept her emotions quiet.

Dean brought her a beer and sat on the sofa with her. It was rather early in the day, but she looked like she needed one.

"Thanks," she spoke as she took the offered bottle of alcohol. Not wasting any time, she guzzled down half of it. "How do you deal with it? The job, the past, the secrets?"

"Porn and booze," he quipped.

Alyssa had to smile at Dean's explanation.

"I've got a handle on one, guess I'll have to try the other," she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, I think you've got that one well handled," he remembered their few nights of rage-infused sex.

"Sure. If you say so." She didn't want to say it, but it had to come out eventually. "You and Sam should get going wherever you need to go."

Dean was a little stunned. "Why would we need to leave, Alyssa?"

"What are you not seeing in the grand scheme of things here? I'm not exactly safe to be around now am I? I get near Sam and the world ends. You can't…help me with this either, so it's better if you two head out, without me."

She waited for the voice to return advising her of what to do next, but she was alone. There was nothing in her head guiding her anymore. She'd destroyed her constant companion and only friend.

"We're not leaving just yet. This isn't over, and I don't like leaving a job half done." He was set on staying and figuring this out.

"So, I'm a job now."

"That's not what I meant…" he started to say more when his cell phone went off singing Boston. It was Sam. "What?" he answered shortly.

"Sorry to disturb you, Dean. Is everything okay there?"

"Yeah, she's fine now. You can come back."

"Not right now. You two should come to town, and bring her sketchbook. Meet me at the General Store." The line went dead in his hand.

He closed the phone, his brow creased with concern. "C'mon. We're going to town."

"Sam can't buy eggs without someone holding his hand?" She was not in the mood for this.

"Just get in the car. And you've been drinking so I'm driving." He took the keys from her not giving her the chance to argue.

It wasn't his baby, but her Camaro was nice: smooth ride, great handling on the curves, comfortable seats, and even a CD player. He was a jealous, but just a tiny bit.

Sam was waiting in the Impala in the General Store parking lot. He looked like he'd seen a demon or something.

He had been thinking about what he had just seen, not sure of how to even bring it up to Dean and Alyssa. He had driven past it, not really paying attention, but something had caught his eye and made him notice it. He'd hit the brakes and backed up to get a better look at it, not sure if what he was seeing was real.

"So, we're here. What's the urgent problem?" Dean kept himself in between Alyssa and Sam, not knowing how close they could be to each other without setting each other off.

"It's up here. Alyssa, did you bring the sketchbook?"

"Yeah. Right here," she handed it to Dean who handed it to Sam.

Sam flipped through the pages as they walked two blocks from where they parked the cars. Coming to the last page of the book, Sam stopped. There it was. She'd seen it too. He folded back the previous pages and handed it back to Dean.

"Look familiar?" he pointed at the building behind the row of tall bushes.

Dean and Alyssa walked around the shrubbery to see the exact duplicate of the church in her drawing, only life size.

The fear gripped her heart, but she wasn't about to bow down to it. "Stay here," she told them heading for the stairs to the church doors.

"No, no. Where are you going?" Dean grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Inside. I don't remember this church being here, Dean. It's newly built, and I want to know how new." She pulled her arm from his grasp and headed off. "You two stay out here. Period."

Every nerve in her body wanted to sprint as far from this place as possible, but she needed to know how long the church had been here. She never remembered seeing it when she was little. She fully remembered the General Store, as she and her brother could always be found there buying candy, but there were no memories of seeing a church in town.

The inside of the church was exactly what she had seen. The stained glass windows were full of color and light. The pews were lined with red velvet seat covers. She didn't have to look around for she knew where everything was in here. Working desperately to keep her trembling from being noticed, she stood in the middle of the church, waiting for something, anything.

"Can I help you, dear?" the lonely voice echoed off the walls and high arched ceiling. The voice belonged to an elderly woman who's face seemed full of grandmotherly love. She had small wire-rimmed glasses; her silver hair was tied back in a smart bun, and she was dressed casually in pink sweatpants with a matching sweatshirt.

"I'm sorry to intrude. I'm rather taken aback at the existence of this church. My family has a cabin up a ways, but I never recalled seeing this church before. May I ask when it was built?" Alyssa could be smooth as butter when she needed to be, and in a split second become as hard as nails when the situation called for it.

"It was built just last year," she escorted Alyssa to the church's foyer. There was a picture hung on the wall just inside the door. "This fine man came to our little town and offered to build us a beautiful church. He paid for the whole thing."

"Did he happen to say why he wanted to build a church here?" Alyssa looked at the picture of the man and froze. She was staring at the face of the man with yellow eyes.

"Yes, he did. He said he was searching for his bride. And when he found her, he was going to bring her here to marry him. He even has a date all picked out." The elderly woman seemed excited about the pending nuptials.

"What date would that be, if you don't mind my asking?" Her hands were trembling more as she stared at the picture of the very thing she and the boys wanted to kill.

"Well it's coming up this month, actually. In just one week on the 30th." The woman looked around for the beautiful young lady but she was gone, the door to the church closing slowly behind her.

Alyssa came running around the corner as if she were being chased. Dean caught her by the arm, the growing heat spreading through him.

"Alyssa. What's wrong? What's the deal with the church?" He let her arm go, but the warmth was still making its way through his body.

"It was built a year ago, while I was here with Zachary." She wasn't angry about what was happening, but she was scared.

'_He's coming for you.'_

I thought I got rid of you. She seemed relieved to have the voice back.

'_It's not that easy to get rid of a part of you.'_

Now you tell me.

"Is there anything else about the church we need to know?" Sam was staying behind Dean just in case Alyssa lost control.

"My wedding day is at the end of this month." She turned away from them walking towards her car.

"What are you talking about?" Dean caught up to her and pulled her back around to him.

"The demon's human portrait is hanging in the church. His kind ass built this church for the day he finds his bride. He's bringing her here to marry him on April 30th, in one week. Who do you think that bride is, Dean? Me. I saw it." She pulled her arm back and continued on to the car.

Dean looked to Sam for confirmation of this particular bit of information.

"Did you see her in a wedding dress?"

"It was a long white gown. I guess it could have been."

Dean and Sam caught up to Alyssa as she waited by her Camaro. Dean still had the keys.

"You guys should leave. Today." She put her hand out for her keys.

"We're not leaving. I already told you that." Dean threw the keys to her. He couldn't let her see just how concerned he was about all they were learning.

"Look, can the hero attitude, okay? If you two aren't here no one gets hurt, no one turns. I'm not sticking around either. So, wedding's off, right?"

"That's not necessarily the case, Alyssa." Sam didn't like to be the bearer of bad news.

"What are you talking about, Sam?"

"The demon can take whoever he wants, whenever he wants. He's done it to one person we know of." Sam remembered Ava, the secretary from Peoria who had warned him of his impending doom. She was missing, her fiancé dead, and the only evidence they found was sulfur.

"You mean there's no way for me to escape this?" Alyssa could see her future growing bleaker with every word they spoke amongst them.

"Don't do that. We're not giving up, Alyssa. Don't you give up, too." Dean was reaching for whatever strength he had left to stand against this new development. If the demon wanted her, he would have to go through him first.

"So, that leaves a week to figure something out, then." She got into her car, waiting for them to follow her back to the cabin.

'_We can stop him. But it will take work. A lot of work.'_

Do we have enough time?

'_I don't know.'_

That's comforting.

Back in the cabin, the tension in the atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife. No one spoke, afraid words would break the spell of determination the three hunters had in finding a way to stop the demon.

Alyssa rummaged through the trunk of her Camaro, grabbing herbs, charms, crystals, and anything else she could think of to help her gain some control over her own evolving power.

'_You have to be careful not to let it get away from you.'_

And how would it get away from me?

'_You're anger, fear, and guilt feed the evil.'_

I thought you said once I told someone, it wouldn't affect me anymore. Did you lie?"

'_No, I did not lie. You are still angry, and you feel guilty about Zachary. And you're very afraid.'_

Aren't you scared? I mean if I'm taken, so are you.

'_If the demon gets you, I'll die. He knows I'm here. He'll want me dead to keep you.'_

The realization that the voice might be a separate entity within her mind stopped her for a moment.

You're a part of me, though. He has to have both of us. Right?

'_I'm the part of you that guides you to do what's right. Once he has you, I become a threat.'_

I'm sorry I tried to destroy you earlier. I feel lost without you, you know.

'_I know.'_

Sam was busy surfing the Internet looking for any news of a wedding planned in the local town, but so far, he hadn't found anything.

"Hey, Sam." Dean was watching Alyssa out of the window near the dining table. He had been pouring through Dad's journal hoping to find something about the demon and how to stop him. But he'd found nothing.

"Yeah, Dean."

"What if the demon wants her for another reason other than she can destroy his kind."

"Like what?" Sam closed the laptop in frustration and joined his brother at the window.

"I've been thinking."

"Careful. Don't hurt yourself." Sam jested.

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

"Seriously, though." He sat down at the table and opened Alyssa's sketchbook. He flipped it to the last three pages. "There's something in here we're not seeing."

"Dean, I looked at that picture at Bobby's, and I didn't see anything. I mean the one before it, with me on it, kind of struck me."

"Why?" Dean was looking at the picture of his brother's eyes, the motel, and the gun.

"She had that vision, knowing what was in my vision."

Dean rubbed his chin, thinking back to that day. She'd said she had visions, but not like Sam's. There was no pain, just the sight. He turned the page to the picture of him choking in the church. That vision had almost killed her. Pain. She'd had pain, like Sam's.

"What was the girl's name at the university?" Dean was beginning to see a pattern.

"Debbie. What about her?" Sam could see the wheels in his brother's mind grinding away.

"She had fire, right?"

"Yeah. Dean what are you thinking?"

"Sam, she started a fire in the fireplace. Damn near blew the place up."

"Wait a minute. You're not thinking she's some sort of sponge, are you?" The realization Alyssa could possibly be just that, started to make sense.

"Think about it. She gets near you, touches your power, she gets a vision." He pointed to the picture of the church. "She touches Debbie's power, and she goes all Firestarter on me." He turned the pages back to the images of the boy suspended in the air and the young man with a bullet hole in his chest. "What if she has her brother's power? And she doesn't know it."

Sam took the sketchbook from Dean and turned the page back to the image of the church.

"She does, Dean. It looks as though she's doing something to you here." He pointed at the picture of Dean next to the stained-glass window.

"That's why that yellow-eyed bastard wants her. She absorbs their powers as she touches them with hers." Dean walked to the window and stared at the woman he had let back in his life.

"And if can get her to go dark side, he'll have her power at his disposal. And it looks like he wants to pass that gift on to another generation." Sam sat at the table, his brow creased in worry. "So, what do we do?"

"We have to tell her." And she won't be happy about it either, he thought.

"How do you suppose we do that?" Sam wasn't looking forward to facing Alyssa and telling her she was more than they originally thought her to be.

"Well, we could always yell it to her from here, and then duck inside the cabin while she goes ballistic," Dean joked.

"Like that would stop her." Sam saw the joke but didn't bite. He was thinking about what Alyssa could do to him. If she could take powers, then she could certainly give them, he thought.

"You could text all the information to her phone," Dean was on a roll.

"Dean, stop. We have to sit her down and tell her our theory."

"What theory?" Alyssa had come in on the last part of the conversation.

They all sat at the table, the sketchbook laid out before them, the page turned to her vision of her brother's death.

"You saw this didn't you?" Dean pointed to the picture of her brother after she shot him.

"Yes," she couldn't look at the picture. "I knew what I would have to do."

"But you still tried to save him," Sam admired her dedication to her brother, much like Dean's for him.

"I told you what I did. It was the truth. All of it." She felt like she was under interrogation for her past acts.

"You said you became angry at him for what he was saying about you." Sam continued.

"Yeah. He wouldn't shut up about my being chosen for a great destiny or something like that."

"Did anything happen before you shot him or just after?" It was Dean's turn to question her.

"I….", she was thinking back, "remember the picture on the wall behind him. It was a huge family portrait my father had made of us when we were young. It fell to the floor and sort of crushed in on itself. Why?"

Dean and Sam looked at each other. Their suspicions would be confirmed with just one more question.

"Was that before you shot him or after?" Dean really didn't want to hear the answer.

"After. Right after the bullet went through him. Why are you asking me this?" She was becoming upset with the line of questioning, almost as if she were being accused of some wrongdoing.

"Alyssa, calm down." Sam was better at easing people's fears than Dean. "We have a working theory and you may have just confirmed it."

"One of you had better start talking and fast." She wasn't enjoying this.

'_Listen to them.'_

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She didn't want to lose control of herself with both of them so close.

"We think we know the demon's real reason for wanting you for himself. Why he wants this," Sam turned the page to the vision the demon had shown her.

"Remember back at the university? The girl, Debbie, the fire starter?" Dean would take it from here.

"Yes," she answered quietly.

"You touched her with your gift, calming her, putting out her fire, right?"

"Yeah. Where's this going, Dean?"

"Long story short, you have each of their powers. You crushed the portrait, you had a vision like Sam, and you incinerated the pictures in the fireplace. You're taking a part of them with you when you touch them with your gift. You did the same with me, only it's not a gift. It's my anger, rage, and hate."

Alyssa could only stare in bewilderment at Dean. She went through everything in her mind, and slowly it all came into focus.

'_They're right.'_

You knew! You knew what I could do this whole time?

'_No. But he's right about you.'_

Alyssa left the table heading outside as she let the knowledge of what she was soak into her mind. She didn't even bother to close the cabin door behind her as she ran to her car, the only other true friend she had in this messed up world.

All the tragedy in her life had led her to this moment. Her mother's death, her father's suicide in prison, Zachary's death by her hand, all of it, was planned to bring her to this point.

"Dean, go to her. Help her deal." Sam could only imagine the pain she was feeling right now.

"What the hell do I say? Sorry, didn't mean to put the fate of the world on your shoulders?" Dean wasn't sure he could help Alyssa.

"Dean, you know how she feels. The pain, anger, that's your territory, man."

"Thanks. I sound like such a joy to be around." But Dean knew he was right. Alyssa had picked up on his rage and pain, taking it in, letting it feed off her own, and making it strong enough to awaken her abilities.

"Just be yourself, Dean. Don't try too hard, okay?" Sam was confident the relationship he saw blossoming between the two of them would get them all through this, alive.

"Be myself? What the hell does that mean?"

Sam headed to his bedroom, not looking back at his brother.

Dean took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and stepped out of the cabin to face Alyssa.

"You okay?" He could feel the heat in the air, and it wasn't from the weather. Alyssa was getting angry again.

"Are you trying to make small talk or do you really want to know if I'm okay?" Alyssa was trying her best to keep her emotions under her control. She now knew just how dangerous she could be if she lost it.

"Funny. But, no, I want to know for real."

"I'm not okay, Dean." Her thoughts went back to her confession. "Why did you walk out of the cabin when I told you about Zach?" She faced him, looking into his eyes, searching for anything remotely resembling a lie.

His first instinct was to lie to her, cover it all up. Be yourself, Sam had said. Well, being himself meant lying to protect himself, his brother, their work, but that's not what she needed right now. She needed the truth, and she needed to hear it all.

"Before he died, our Dad told me a secret about Sam." It was tough having to say it once, now he was saying it again. He leaned against the Camaro, needing something solid to hold him up, figuratively and literally.

"What, Dean?"

"He said I had to save Sam, and if I couldn't, then I would have to kill him." There, it was out, again. It didn't make him feel any better having to repeat it, for it just made it more real for him. And now knowing that Alyssa had had to do the same thing only made it that much worse for him.

"He knew about Sam?" Alyssa couldn't believe that John would have known what was going to happen to his own son, let alone ask his eldest to kill his brother.

"I think so. He didn't say anything else. He died right after that." He felt broken inside reliving that day. "When you told us you killed Zach, it scared the crap out of me, knowing I might have to do the same to Sam."

'_You are a threat to Sam. You could very well turn him, forcing Dean to do just that.'_

Not now, please. Not now.

"I did it because I loved my brother. I knew he wouldn't want to be what he had become. At least, that's what I keep telling myself, but what the hell do I know? I was out of his life for years, so I have no idea who he was anymore. All I knew was that I couldn't let him hurt anyone else. And that's my job, right? I'm a hunter. I hunt things that hurt people, and my brother was one of them." She felt the panic rising again, wondering if she'd made the right choice, or if there was perhaps some way she could have saved her brother.

"Hey, hey." Dean pulled her to him, holding her chin in his hand, looking into her eyes, noting the fear that lay there. "You did everything you could to save him. There's nothing else you could have done, Alyssa." And yet, deep within him, he still didn't know if he would have the strength to end his brother's life should he fail to save him.

His own doubt was written across his face, and she saw it. She didn't want to be the cause of his having to make that fateful, heart-wrenching decision.

She reached around his back, leaning into him to kiss him. Laying her lips upon his for a moment, she pulled the gun out of his pants. She stepped back from him, still feeling the heat of his kiss on her lips. Her body was trembling with fear as she showed him what she had in her hand.

"What are you doing?" he checked to see that the gun in her hand was indeed his. "Alyssa, what are you doing?"

"I swore when you and I were together that if something happened to you, I would take my own life to spare you yours. Now, I'm a threat to your brother. I won't let you make the same choice I had to make. If I do one final thing in this world, I only want to spare you that."

"Alyssa, give me the gun. No one's dying, not here, not now." He could see just how serious she was even though she was shaking with fear.

"Will you do it, Dean? Should I call for Sam to do it?"

"No! Sam's not dealing with this, and I'm not killing you, Alyssa! Now give me the gun!" He was seeing things spiraling out of control. Where the hell was Sam when you needed him?

"Alyssa!" Sam had been heading for the kitchen when he saw Alyssa pull Dean's gun out of his back. He had his own gun out, waiting to see if he was going to have to shoot her to protect Dean. Now he knew she wasn't a threat to Dean but to herself. "Give the gun back to Dean."

"Don't come any closer, Sam. If I'm dead, you're safe. Dean won't have to kill you. The demon won't get me. Everyone wins, right?"

"No one wins when someone dies, Alyssa. Did you feel you had won when you killed Zachary? Did you feel you won when that boy's family was killed?" Sam was slowly moving forward as he spoke. "When someone dies because of a supernatural being, no one wins."

"But if I die, neither side loses or wins. It's a clean slate. Everyone starts over from square one." The gun was so cold in her hand.

"Alyssa, I don't want to lose you again." Dean hadn't wanted to admit anything to himself, but now he could see just how deep she had gotten into him. I hope this works, he thought. "I can't lose you. Not now."

"Don't stand there and tell me you love me. I know you, Dean Winchester. Love isn't in your vocabulary. And you know as well as I do, falling for someone in our screwed up world only gets him or her killed, right?" She saw the haunted look in Sam's eyes. He knew loss; she could feel it.

"I won't lie to you. I don't know what I feel, but I do know this world would be a lot darker without you in it. And I've gotten used to having you around."

Sam gave Dean a "what the hell?" look.

Dean shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "well it's true".

"I have the gun. You'll say anything to stop me, right?"

"I would never lie to you, Alyssa. Neither would Sam. We're too afraid of what you'll do if you find out we did lie." He gave her a smirk, hoping she would see the humor in it, but also the truth.

"Good call," she smiled a bit. But she still held the gun.

"Alyssa, please. Give me the gun. Don't do this. We'll find a way. With the three of us working on this, we can find a way." Dean moved slowly holding his hand out for the gun.

She thought of all they'd been through together: the demon, the rage, Debbie, the Bigfoot. The two men would not let her go easily, for they were in this fight with or without her.

They had come up with some good theories to explain her growing abilities, and they were at least willing to try to help her. She owed to them to be willing to give them one last chance, but only one.

She was visibly shaking as she placed the gun in Dean's hand. An audible sigh of relief could be heard coming from both men.

Dean handed the gun to Sam as Alyssa collapsed against his chest. They silently agreed to lock up the weapons for the time being, just in case.

No tears fell. She wouldn't allow it. But she couldn't control the panicked shaking of her body. Even the comfort of Dean's arms couldn't calm her.

'_Don't give up.'_

I can't. He won't let me.

'_Good man.'_

I know.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

It was time to bring in reinforcements. Bobby was called and told of what they had discovered about Alyssa. Missouri was also recruited to help Alyssa handle her newfound gifts. Since they only had a week to work on things, everyone had to be on site immediately.

Sam was awarded the job of picking up both Bobby and Missouri from the nearest airport. He was also in charge of catching them up on the recent happenings. They would need to know everything before they got there.

Alyssa offered him to take her car. It needed more miles on it after having sat around Bobby's junkyard for such a long time.

"Just be careful with her." There wasn't the slightest notion of humor in her look.

"I promise. I'll take good care of her. Thanks, Alyssa." He took her love of her car just as seriously as Dean's love for the Impala.

After the Camaro disappeared down the road, Alyssa walked back into the cabin, feeling very alone even though Dean was there.

"So, now what do we do, Boss?" Alyssa was trying not to let the pressure of everything get to her.

"I like that. Boss." he smiled that gorgeous smile he knew melted the hearts and resolves of many women.

"Doesn't work on me, so can it," she lied. Her heart was racing seeing him smiling that way at her.

"Liar." He knew he'd gotten to her.

"So, what _is_ the plan, if you have one?" She sat on the sofa next to him, crossing her legs.

"You, me, alone. What do _you_ think?"

His eyes darkened a bit with the lustful thoughts in his mind. He moved closer to her.

"I could think of something we could do," she leaned in just shy of touching his lips, "but we don't have time to play." She pushed him back playfully. "We have work to do, Dean. I only have one week until doomsday."

He groaned as she got up off the sofa, tracing her finger across his chin. But, she was right.

"Okay, so how do you do your thing?" He followed her to the dining table where Dad's journal was still laid out.

"I don't know. It has to do with my emotions, I guess." She flipped through the pages of John's journal, not sure if she'd find anything useful. It was just something for her to do to keep herself from completely falling apart.

"Anger's been a pretty powerful one, and fun too." He was still hoping for a little personal time before they had to get to work.

She shook her head, smiling. It had been fun, letting the anger flow, but that's not what she needed right now. She wanted it, but didn't need it. They had to stay focused.

"Okay. I get it. Work first, fun later." He had an idea forming. "C'mon." He grabbed her hand, welcoming the warmth spreading up his arm and into the rest of him, and led her outside to the back of the cabin.

"Where are we going?"

"To practice."

"Practice what?"

"For me to know and you to find out." He got that mischievous look in his eyes.

"Dean."

Alyssa stood on the back yard deck her father had built so many years ago as Dean pulled one of the aluminum trashcans that had been around the side into view. He then hoisted a log on his shoulder and placed it a few feet from the trashcan.

"There. Target practice."

"And what do you expect me to do with those?"

"Crush the can, and set the log on fire." He came back up the deck to stand next to her. "You have to find how to access them like you did the one that destroys the demon's power."

"But, Dean, I don't know how to find the fire. It just happened when I was so full of hate and rage."

"Then find that. Find that hate, focus it, and get it out to the log." He almost sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

"But…" she started to protest.

"Don't talk." He walked behind her, laying his hands on her shoulders. That familiar feeling was washing over him. But he wanted it to get hotter, get angrier, and he knew just how to get her there. "Think of all the crap you've had to deal with. Close your eyes and see it all."

His voice next to her ear sent chills up her arms. His words stoked the heat that had been lying dormant in her center.

She closed her eyes, remembering the things she had seen. Her mother's death, her father's possession, her brother's demise by her hand, and the demon behind it all.

Dean felt the heat burning his skin. He released her shoulders and stepped back. She was close now. One more push, and she'd be there.

"Think of your brother. How you held him as he died." That would hurt, he knew, but it had to happen. She had to feel in order to find the triggers for her powers.

She could feel the fires raging within her. No more thoughts were needed for it was right there now, poised to strike. A single tear fell as she opened her eyes and looked at the log, willing it to burn, wanting it to explode, filling it with all her wrath.

The log burst into flames reaching ten feet into the air. Still feeling the emotions running through her, she turned her attention to the trashcan. Her sorrow overwhelmed her, and the can was instantly crushed flat.

Dean watched in awe as the flames reached ever higher and grew stronger. The can was of no more consequence, as it wasn't getting any flatter. But the flames could reach the cabin or the forests around them.

"Alyssa," he stepped up through the heat surrounding her, inhaling it, feeling it scorch his throat, "you have to put it out like you did with Debbie." He started to place his hands on her arm to show his support.

"Don't touch me, Dean. You're too volatile. I won't be able to stop it if you're feeding me your anger."

She was right, so he backed off, stepping around her to see if she was able to stop the flames.

Alyssa found the comforting darkness again. Normally, she'd be afraid of the dark, knowing what lies behind the shadows, but this darkness offered no fear, nothing to hide. It swallowed her anger, her hate, and her sorrow, leaving behind the emptiness. She could see him out of the corner of her eye, watching her. For him, she let the peacefulness take over.

Her eyes faded to white once again as she found whatever it was that gave her the ability to shut down the demon. He watched the flames on the log die out slowly. The first round of target practice was successful. He started to tell her they could take a break, but something caught his attention.

The flattened trashcan was trembling on the ground, as if an earthquake shook below it. Dean looked to Alyssa, seeing her eyes normal again, but her attention was completely focused on the crushed metal.

"Alyssa, what are you doing?"

Dean could only watch as the trashcan lifted off the ground, hovering in the air.

Alyssa's eyes never left the metal disc. She knew what she wanted to do with it, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Hey, where'd that come from?" Dean was trying to get her attention back to him.

"Watch."

Alyssa moved the trashcan disc into a vertical position over the log, much like a saw blade.

Dean jumped a bit as the disc impacted with the log splitting in half, imbedding itself into the ground beneath it.

She let it all go, feeling dizzy, and physically spent.

Dean caught her in his arms as her legs gave out.

"I think that's enough for now," he helped her walk into the cabin, sitting her down on the sofa. "I'll get you something to eat. Stay here."

While he rummaged through the kitchen for a quick snack for Alyssa, his mind kept going back over what he'd just witnessed. She had the fire from Debbie, the crushing thing from her brother, but where'd she pick up the telekinesis?

He returned with a box of crackers and a soda.

She noticed he seemed a bit freaked out sitting next to her.

"So, did I pass?" She slowly ate the crackers and sipped the soda, gradually feeling her strength returning.

"With flying colors. Only one thing, though. Where'd you get the power to lift things like that?"

"There's only one other who has been touched by my gift, Dean. Someone we didn't factor into the equation."

"The demon."

"Yeah, him."

He was thinking what she was thinking. What else did she have from him?

"I've gone from freaky to just plain scary now, haven't I?"

"You have no idea."

"Still think it's a good idea to let me live?"

'_Are you nuts? You're still thinking that?'_

Ironic question coming from a voice in my head, don't you think? And yes, I'm still entertaining the idea.

Dean didn't know how to answer the question this time. She already knew a bit of how he felt, at least what he could decipher of himself. He wasn't admitting to anything stronger than knowing life wouldn't be the same without her in it.

"You're staying. No argument." That would have to do for now.

Stubborn ass, she thought to herself.

'_Why so desperate to die?'_

Why so desperate to stay and become the destruction of humanity? Please, let me be for now. The silence answered her.

"So, shall we go for round two?" She got up off the sofa, walking past Dean.

"What's the rush?" Stupid question, idiot, he scolded himself.

She turned back to him with a mild look of shock.

"I know, I know. Seven days. What I meant is you've pretty much got it, now. Take a break for today."

"And do what, Dean? Sit around and watch the time tick away? No thanks." She started for the deck again, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm.

The warmth washed over him once again, but stronger this time, lighting his internal fires.

"I can think of something," he pulled her into him, kissing her, feeling her heat growing.

Again, she didn't want to feel the anger, fire, or the power, so she let the darkness come again, bringing him with her, dousing the building inferno, until it was just them, their lips, their skin, their bodies.

"So, she's able to tap into others, touch them with her gift, and then sort of absorb their powers?" Bobby sat in the back seat of the Camaro, in awe of Alyssa's newfound abilities. He knew she was something to behold, but he never dreamed she'd become what Sam was describing.

"What are you not telling us, Sam?" Missouri could feel there was something more to this story.

He didn't know how to start. On the trip to the airport, he'd played out different ways to tell them about Alyssa and the demon. Now that the news was out, he had forgotten to figure a way to tell them about how Alyssa affected him. They needed to know of his deepest desires to have more abilities of his own, and how Alyssa could give it to him. This wasn't going to be easy, for anyone.

"Alyssa has an affect on me, too. More than just her tapping into my power." Sam started hoping to ease into it, but seeing no way, he just said it. "She can give me the powers she has and open me up to more."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bobby asked suspiciously.

"It means Alyssa is the doorway for him to receive more power than he could possibly imagine," Missouri knew exactly what it all meant now. "She only has to let you step through. Right, Sam?"

"Yeah," Sam rubbed his hand through his hair, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

"How close have you come?" Missouri could sense the need in him, the desire he felt to have those powers. It was clawing at his insides.

"Close enough to scare all of us."

Bobby could only stare at the back of Sam's head, wondering what was going through his mind. Why would he want to be like the demon? How badly does he want Alyssa's powers? And then there's Alyssa. How powerful can she get? What happens if the demon gets to her? His mind kept coming up with more questions, and the answers were anything but comforting.

The car ride to the cabin continued on in an uneasy stunned silence.

Alyssa stood in the front of the mirror, pulling her shirt back over her head. She could still feel the heat of his skin against hers. She ran her fingers across the scars on her neck, feeling the kisses he'd left along them.

'_What now?'_

Practice, I guess. Like he said, I need to get this under control.

Alyssa looked into the mirror seeing Dean asleep on the bed, his arm thrown over his eyes, his naked chest rising and falling with each breath.

They had spent the rest of the afternoon into the evening hours in her parent's bed, her bed now, relishing the privacy they were awarded for a short time.

She left him to sleep, quietly closing the door behind her.

Sam was most likely on his way back now with Missouri and Bobby, so she had just enough to time for one private practice session.

The sun had set, but the sky was not willing to let go of all the light just yet. She walked out to the deck, seeing the growing shadows of the remnants of her earlier practice session.

'_What are you doing now?'_

If you're in my head, don't you already know what I'm doing?

'_Of course I do. Just wanting to make sure this is what you should be doing.'_

You sound like my mother used to, always double-checking that I actually wanted to do something or say something.

The voice didn't answer the remark.

What? No rebuttals, no words of wisdom?

Silence once again.

Dean had helped her find the fury that fed the fire with his words. She needed to find her way to it without help. If something should happen to him during this fight, she wanted to be sure she could find her power on her own.

Alyssa concentrated on the two pieces of scorched log envisioning them burning, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't even cause an ember to light.

What am I doing wrong?

'_Feel it. Don't see it, feel it within you.'_

She closed her eyes once again, seeing her family, beaten and bloody. The anger was there.

'_Now leave the images out, and focus on the feeling.'_

She let the pictures in her mind fade away leaving behind the fire growing within her. The heat spread through her, stinging her skin as it reached to her fingertips and toes.

'_Remember how this feels, Alyssa. Don't forget it.'_

She opened her eyes, the light gone from the sky now, but she could just make out the shape of the broken log in the moonlight. Faster than she could think it, the logs burst into flames.

It was all there, right beneath the surface, waiting to escape. She let it out, every bit of what she had been holding within her. The fiery logs spiraled into the air, almost as if dancing around each other. She was so intent on watching the logs burning; she hadn't noticed she was no longer alone.

"I knew you could do it, Alyssa." The familiar male voice startled her, releasing her hold on the logs. Both pieces crashed to the ground, sparks flying into the air.

The enemy was here. He had dared cross the lines of war into their territory. Dean was still upstairs sleeping while his immortal enemy had infiltrated their headquarters. She didn't want to risk his life by alerting him to the demon's presence, so Alyssa stood her ground, alone.

"I can do more, and you know it." The anger was rising quickly; the air heated around her, circling her.

"I know, and that's what makes you absolutely perfect. You are beautiful, Alyssa. No one's ever told you that, have they?"

'_He's playing on your emotions. Don't let him succeed.'_

He won't.

"You know, your mother was a pain in the ass, then, and she still is."

"My mother's dead, genius. You saw to that. What's a matter? Alzheimer's setting in early?"

"Tsk, tsk, Alyssa. For someone so tough and so intelligent, you don't know much, do you? The voice in your head has been there since your mother's death. That night, she looked into your eyes as she died, and passed through you, leaving a piece behind."

She screamed in her mind, IS THAT TRUE!?

'_Yes. I've been here with you, guiding you, but you can't let him affect you like this. Remember the feelings, Alyssa. Use them.'_

Her mother had been with her this whole time. She had known her suffering, her pain, what she had done to Zachary, what she had almost done with Sam, and her relations with Dean.

Before she could recover herself, the demon was standing in front of her, holding her with his power.

Dean, she screamed in her mind, please wake up! Dean, wake up!


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

He shot straight up in the bed, completely awake. Whatever he had been dreaming vanished, the sleep from his body washed away. The last time this happened, the Bigfoot had Alyssa in its grasp. He was alone in the bed, and it was dark.

Where the hell was she? There was a sense of dread overwhelming his thoughts. Something was terribly wrong. He quickly and quietly dressed in the moonlight from the window. The gun Alyssa had stolen from him earlier was tucked in the back of his pants. He left off his boots, carrying them in his hands, not wanting to make noises on the wooden floors.

The cabin was completely dark except for the orange glow coming from the back deck. He waited at the bottom of the steps, listening for voices.

He heard a man's voice, but Sam hadn't returned from the airport yet.

Dean made his way out the front door without a sound. On the front porch, he slipped his feet into his boots, not bothering to tie them.

Alyssa, trapped in the vise grip of the demon, could only stare into his yellow eyes, feeling the fear seeping into every nerve of her body. She knew she could stop him, but her mind had fallen victim to his words about her mother's voice, spirit, or whatever it was in her head. She couldn't focus on the anger, the rage, or anything. She was at his mercy.

"You're almost ready, Alyssa. How's Sam doing, by the way? Been getting close to him, lately?"

"Shut up, you bastard." He may have her body, but her mind was still all hers.

'_Remember that, Alyssa.'_

"Tell your mother to stay out this. I want some private time with my bride."

Alyssa felt a searing pain traveling through her head.

'_Get him out, now.'_

"Hands off my girl!" Dean had come around the side of the cabin and saw the two figures illuminated by the glow of the burning logs.

She'd been practicing again, he thought.

"Dean Winchester, always the thorn in my side."

"Son of a bitch," he aimed his gun at the glowing yellow eyes he knew all too well, but he wasn't close enough to get clear of Alyssa should he pull the trigger. "Get away from her!"

'_Stop him or he'll kill…'_

The voice didn't get a chance to finish as the pain burned through her head.

Alyssa screamed with the agony of whatever the demon was doing in her head, hearing Dean's voice off in the distance of her mind. He had answered her call again, just like last time. And now, she's placed him right in the path of the demon. He couldn't protect himself with just a gun.

"Dean," she breathed out as the pain assaulted her, "don't."

"Don't worry, dear. He won't." The demon waved his hand, effectively removing the gun from Dean's hands. Another wave of his hand and he was thrown through the flames of the burning logs.

"No!" Alyssa cried as she saw his body flying through the air. He didn't land on the flames but rolled out of them. Thankfully, he seemed to be unharmed, but she was not going to let him get another chance to hurt Dean.

"You've been a bad girl, Alyssa. That's not the brother you need to be screwing around with. Sam has what you want, what you need. And you have what he needs. You two are a match made in hell."

His smile sickened her and helped her reach the point where she now had control.

The darkness she needed was there, beckoning her, soothing her soul. Opening herself to it, she forgot her fear, her pain and instead found the emptiness, the peace flowed over her. Not giving anything away, she looked into the demon's eyes reflecting the fire she had started.

Dean was on the other side of the flames, but he could feel the needles on his skin. Alyssa was in control. He got up slowly, so as to not draw any unwanted attention to himself. He could see the gun in the firelight, but it was too far for him to reach. As if it had read his mind, the gun slid across the ground and stopped next to his right hand.

Alyssa knew he would need the gun and sent it to him. She waited until he had the weapon firmly in his grip and was moving away from the burning logs. He had moved to place himself behind the demon, in her sight.

"Your turn."

The demon had but a split second to realize he was no longer the one with the upper hand before he was defying gravity. The human body he inhabited was already dead, but the impact of it hitting the tree and landing on the ground below stunned it briefly.

But it was enough time for Dean to make his way back on the deck with Alyssa.

Unbeknownst to all of them, Sam, Bobby, and Missouri had arrived at the cabin.

Missouri knew immediately something was wrong, "Sam, hurry."

"What?" But as soon as he got out of the car, he felt the pulling again. The need woke with a vengeance, clawing at him, desperate to find what would feed it.

Sam ran around the cabin, seeing Alyssa on the deck with Dean. The groans of another person could be heard a few yards away. He pulled his gun, trying to focus his energy on determining if the groans were from friend or foe.

Bobby came around behind Sam, his own gun drawn. He could see Alyssa on the deck, Dean covering her, his gun pointed in the same direction as Sam's. The fire was still burning, helping to light the ground around them, but he still couldn't see at whom they were pointing.

Sam moved slowly towards the deck. The pull of Alyssa's power was becoming irresistible. He needed to be closer to her.

Dean had seen his brother appear from the side of the cabin followed by Bobby and Missouri. He knew the situation just got worse. Alyssa's power was at maximum, and Sam was feeling it.

"Sam, stay back! It's the demon!" he could see Sam inching closer to the deck.

He'd heard his brother's words, but they seemed so far away. The blood rushing through his ears was muting the sounds around him.

"Finally, Sammy, you've arrived." The demon brushed the dirt and leaves from his arms and shoulders, straightening his jacket as he stepped out of the bushes and undergrowth he'd been so unceremoniously tossed into. "Feel it, boy. Want it. Go get it. She's right there."

Sam saw his yellow eyes in the firelight, but couldn't hear the words coming from his lips. The power was surging around him, pulling him to her.

"Bobby, stop him. If he gets near her, we'll lose them both." Dean was desperately trying to keep his eyes on the demon as the needles danced across his skin.

Bobby moved to stop Sam, stepping in front of him, blocking his path with his own body.

"Alyssa, it's time to end this!" Dean yelled back at her. He could see her losing control, as Sam came closer.

"She wants him, Dean. Can't you see that? You're nothing to her, just a roll in the hay. Only Sammy boy can give her what she needs. He's the real man she wants." His eyes were looking for the effect his words were having.

Missouri stayed unseen, watching Sam fight with himself. She knew she had to do something. Not much for running, she walked as fast as she could around to the front of the house.

She didn't know the layout, but the fire out back shown enough light to allow her to maneuver safely within the darkened cabin. She could see Alyssa standing on the deck, the flames growing higher. Dean was next to her, still aiming his gun at the demon.

She placed her hand on Dean's shoulder, moving him to the side.

"Alyssa, honey, you can feel him, can't you?"

"Yes," her breathing was unsteady as she fought for control. "It wants him. I can't….stop it." Tendrils of energy were reaching for Sam, finding him, and stroking him, wanting him.

"You have to pull it all back in, Alyssa. Find the peace you found before."

"It's too strong. There's too much," she could feel Sam responding to her.

Sam dropped his gun, his focus no longer on the demon. He could see her, she was right there, so close. The need in him was raging through him. It was responding to the energy finding its way into him, touching him, caressing him.

"You can't stop them, Dean. They belong together, like cake and icing, one laying on top of the other." He laughed at the visual he knew had flashed through Dean's mind.

"Bobby, get Sam out of here!" Dean yelled. Missouri had Alyssa; Bobby had to take Sam, leaving him to face the demon.

"C'mon, Sam. Time to go." He grabbed Sam by his arm, but Sam pulled out of his grasp. Bobby could see Sam didn't see him, didn't care to see him. His eyes were dark as he kept trying to get past him to Alyssa.

"Dean, he ain't budging!"

"Then knock him out if he gets any closer!" Dean knew that was the only way to keep Sam away from Alyssa.

C'mon, Alyssa, turn it off, he begged in his mind.

"Alyssa, please, control it. Don't let him win." Missouri was talking softly, pleading with her to try. "Dean can only fight for you for so long. You need to fight for him, now." She paused, "You love him, don't you?"

Dean split his focus as he heard his name mentioned. He kept his eyes on the demon and his mind on Missouri's words.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Then fight this. Keep Sam safe, for Dean." Missouri stepped back giving her room.

Keep Sam safe, she repeated in her mind, for Dean.

She thought of Dean, his eyes as she had held the gun in her hand, wanting to end her life. She thought of his kisses, his touch, and his body moving with hers.

Slowly, she withdrew the energy, blanketing it in the darkness. Sam was fighting to hold on to it, not wanting her to take it away. She had to pull harder this time, flooding the power with the darkness and peace.

Bobby watched as Alyssa's eyes went white, his grip on Sam tightening.

Dean's skin was alive with the energy he felt coming from her. It wasn't over yet, but it would be soon.

The demon knew his time was up here, but he had learned something very interesting. Next time, he knew what to do. But for now, he'd let them think they won. He waited for her to send him off.

Alyssa only had to think of sending the demon away, and he was gone.

Bobby looked around for any clue as to where the demon had gone, but there was none. He had simply vanished.

Dean placed his gun behind his back, tucked into his pants, waiting to catch Alyssa. Her eyes changed back to normal, and she fell into his arms, unconscious this time.

Sam had come back, realizing Bobby had a death grip on his shirt.

"Bobby, I'm okay now. You can let go." Sam was breathing heavily, trying to relax his muscles.

"You okay, son?" He patted Sam on the cheek, making sure he was focused and aware of where he was.

"I'm fine. Where's the demon?" He looked in the direction he remembered seeing the yellow-eyed demon last.

"He's gone. Alyssa poofed him away." Bobby still couldn't believe what he had seen.

"Yeah. She can do that. Freaks me out." Sam rubbed his hand thru his hair. He didn't want to talk to anyone anymore. The need within him wasn't completely silenced. He headed up the deck, following far behind Missouri and Dean.

"Missouri, there's water in the fridge. Could you grab her a bottle and bring it to her room, please?" Dean carried the unconscious Alyssa upstairs, laying her on the bed. He hadn't known when the tears had fallen, but he saw the stains on her cheeks.

Missouri rushed in with the water bottle, handing it to Dean. She stepped back, admiring how carefully Dean took care of this extraordinary woman.

He opened the water bottle, and gently awakened Alyssa enough to drink a small amount. Closing the top, he set it on the bedside table, and pulled the blanket from the other side of the bed over her.

Dean escorted Missouri from the room, closing the door quietly behind them.

Missouri joined Bobby, who was nursing a beer at the dining table. The lights were on in the kitchen and dining area, but Sam was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Sam, Bobby?" he was looking in the kitchen.

"He went up to a bedroom up there," he pointed to the third door upstairs.

"You saw him walk in there?"

"Yeah, he's there." Bobby took another swig of beer.

Dean sprinted to his brother's room. He didn't know what he was going to say, but he knew Sam needed him to just be there for him.

Sam didn't join the others. He didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. He felt ashamed of how much he wanted Alyssa. Was he becoming evil? Was this the reason Dad had warned Dean he may have to kill him?

Alyssa was two rooms away, yet he could feel her right next to him. He'd felt her with Dean, tasted her, and knew what it was like to have her explode around him. Sam buried his face in his pillow, trying to smother the images and feelings invading his mind and body.

Dean knocked on the bedroom door waiting to hear an answer, but hearing nothing, not even a muffled moan, he opened the door.

Sam's feet reached an inch or so beyond the end of the bed, his face covered with the pillow.

"Sam," he closed the door behind him, "you okay, man?"

"Go away, Dean." The last person in the world he wanted to see right now was his brother.

"Sorry, can't do that." He sat on what little space was left on the bed.

"What is happening to me?" Sam rolled back over to see his brother sitting beside him.

"I don't know. I know it has something to do with the demon's plans for Alyssa and you. I just wish I knew for sure what it was." He was the big brother. He was supposed to be able to fix the problems for his younger brother, but this he didn't know how to fix.

"Is this putting me one step closer?"

"One step closer to what?" Dean knew what he was asking, and he didn't want to answer, ever.

"To turning into something?" the fear in his voice was evident, but he hoped Dean hadn't heard it.

"I won't let you, Sam. And neither will any one else." He knew Bobby was there, backing them up. Missouri would do what she could with Alyssa. And Alyssa, well, she was another story.

"What if I learned to control it, like she's learning to control hers? Learn to shut it off?" Sam's thoughts ran back to all the times he'd felt Alyssa's gifts. There had to be some way to control it.

"I don't know, Sam. We could try it, but that would mean putting you two together. Think you could handle that?" Even though the alarms were going off in his mind, he knew Sam needed to hear his confidence.

"We have to try something, Dean. I can't take this anymore. It's scaring me, man. This time, it was so strong. And he was right there. I had him in my sights, but I couldn't pull the trigger.

"It wouldn't have made a difference anyway. We don't have the Colt. It wouldn't have killed him."

"Even if I'd had the Colt in my hands, Dean, I wouldn't have been able to pull the damned trigger. All I could feel was Alyssa, nothing else. There's got to be some way to shut it all off." He rolled over, unable to face his brother any longer.

"We'll talk about it more in the morning. Get some sleep." Dean left his baby brother with his thoughts, taking his own doubts with him.

"He okay?" Bobby had been waiting for Dean to emerge from Sam's room.

"So far. I need a beer. Missouri, you want one?" Dean made his way into the kitchen.

"Most definitely." It was going to be a long night.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Alyssa woke up to the darkness of her room, lit only by moonlight. She was drained and thirsty. She caught a glimpse of the water bottle on the side table she knew Dean had left for her. She smiled at the thought of him caring for her.

Missouri's words echoed in her mind: she loved him. Did she? She didn't know what love felt like, so she had nothing to compare her feelings to.

'_Alyssa, you do love him.'_

She held her hand to her forehead, tears threatening to fall.

I thought you were gone.

'_It was close. But you saved us, all of us.'_

I almost lost all of us. I can't do this anymore. I can't live with knowing what I'm capable of. I'll end up killing them.

'_You cannot give up. He needs you. More than he's willing to admit to himself.'_

Love is cursed in this world; even you know that.

'_Not always. There are a few that can survive.'_

This one won't. I know it. She ended the conversation by walking out of the bedroom.

Her heart raced as she saw him sitting across from Bobby at the dining table. Her breath caught in her throat as his eyes met hers. Would he still be the same Dean around her now that he knew?

'_Trust him.'_

Alyssa made her way down the stairs carefully. She was still a little weak and in need of some food substance.

"Hey, wasn't expecting you up so soon." Dean took her arm helping her to the chair he had just vacated.

"I was thirsty. Thanks for the water."

"You're welcome." Touching her arm had released the warmth through him again. He still didn't get how she did it, but he had come to expect it, and like it. It comforted him, as a sign that she was okay. "Need something to eat?"

"Yeah. Please."

Bobby was sitting right in front of her, but she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes. She was so scared of what she would see in his gaze: shame, hatred, or fear? What awaited her in the eyes of her adopted father?

"Alyssa, you okay?" Bobby's hand fell on hers, squeezing her reassuringly. She was trembling, but he didn't understand why.

"She's afraid, Bobby. Afraid you'll see her differently now. Isn't that right?"

'_Psychics,'_ the voice sighed.

"Yes. I'm still me. I really am." She raised her eyes to meet Bobby's and was relieved to see the love in those blue orbs. He still loved her, no matter how big of a freak she had become.

"I knew you were special when John brought you to me. I could see it in you, Alyssa, but I had no idea just how powerful you could be. It's a little frightening to think of what you could have done in high school if this had manifested back then."

She laughed at that because she remembered how much trouble she had been in high school: the fights with the guys, the crap from the girls, the principal's meetings, the constant phone calls.

"She was that bad, huh?" Dean had returned with a bowl of chips for Alyssa to munch on while they talked. He sat down across from her, next to Bobby.

"You have no idea, Dean. Your Dad thought you guys were a pain in the ass in school, but Alyssa here, she was a pain in everyone's ass." He chuckled thinking back.

"I've seen her take on a werewolf, a banshee, a kid's ghost, a pyrokinetic, and a demon. I can pretty much imagine the rest." Dean sounded proud of her, of who she was and had become.

"You're quite the warrior, Alyssa," Missouri was enjoying the two men fawning over this young, fragile creature.

"I guess you can say I wanted to take on the world, all at once," she looked to Bobby and Dean, seeing them agree with the nodding of their heads.

"Could you gentlemen excuse us, please?" Missouri wanted to speak with Alyssa alone.

The men rose from the chairs to leave.

"No. Not this time, Missouri. I'm not hiding from anything or anyone anymore. They stay, for all of it." She looked the black woman in the eye, never blinking.

"Okay. You heard the woman. Sit back down." Were they ready to hear what she had to say? Didn't matter. They brought her here to help them. "You are the last in your line of women, aren't you?"

That hit hard, knowing she was the last-born daughter. "Yes."

"And you are barren, yes?"

Even though Bobby and Dean knew the truth of her fertility, it was still hard talking about it in front of them. "Yes," she whispered, almost too low to be heard.

"What are you getting at, Missouri?" Bobby didn't like seeing his girl hurting. And talking about this was doing a lot of hurting, for both of them.

"Your gifts don't just come from the other chosen children, Alyssa. They also come from your maternal line. I can feel the ages within you. Some of this stuff is really old, and really powerful."

"So, he wants my lineage, too?"

"I don't know exactly what he wants with you, honey. But I do know what is in you." Missouri laid her hand on Alyssa's, feeling a tingling in her palm the moment she touched her. "And it still has yet to be fully realized." Feeling light-headed, Missouri quickly removed her hand from Alyssa's.

"What about the balance you spoke of before?" She didn't want to talk of her inability to have a child, or her mother's line.

"You stand between both sides, even more so now. But you must still make the choice, Alyssa. No one can make it for you." Missouri had nothing else for her.

"What choice?"

"I don't know. But you'll know when the time comes."

Alyssa could see the fatigue on Missouri's face. "You can have the bedroom in the middle up there. It's my old room."

"Thank you. I think I'll turn in now." She left the three hunters to themselves.

Bobby, Dean, and Alyssa sat at the table, unable to find words.

"I guess I'll hit the sack as well. Where do I sleep?"

"I'm sorry, Bobby. All that's left is the sofa by the fireplace." Alyssa felt a little uncomfortable with him knowing Dean shared her bed.

"Looks comfy. I'll be fine." He took the empty beer bottles into the kitchen and headed for the couch to get some shut-eye.

Alyssa caught Dean's eyes, losing herself in their green depths. She didn't want him to see her weak and vulnerable. She straightened her shoulders, sat up a bit taller, and broke the silence.

"Well, I guess that just leaves us, doesn't it?"

"What happened out there? Why did you go it alone?" He was far from tired, the adrenaline still coursing through his veins.

"I had to find it myself, Dean. I can't depend on someone standing there egging me on, talking me through it. I had to try it alone. I found how to get to it, and use it. Then he showed up."

"Why didn't you stop him from getting that close to you?" The fear was evident in her eyes, worrying him about just how easily she could fold under pressure.

"He said…." She choked on the words that wanted to come, not wanting to think about it.

"What did he say to you, Alyssa?" he didn't want to push her, but something had affected her, putting them all in danger, especially Sam.

"My mother's not dead." The words didn't seem real, didn't fit the moment.

"What do you mean she's not dead? You saw her die, didn't you?" He could see the hope and disbelief competing for a place in her eyes.

Bobby wasn't completely asleep, just starting to doze off when he heard what Alyssa had said. He fought off the exhaustion and waited to hear the rest of the conversation.

"When my mother died…she passed through me….I felt her say goodbye…but," the tears built in her eyes, but she fought them back, wanting to be strong, untouched.

"But what?" Even though he understood her need to withhold her emotions, lock them away, he wished she would just let it go. Then, perhaps, she'd have more control over her power, and could save herself and Sam from the demon's clutches.

"I know this is going to sound absolutely certifiable, but I've had a voice in my head, guiding me, helping me since she died. She's been with me the whole time, Dean."

"Is that why you sometimes space out when someone's talking to you? You're listening to the voice in your head?" He took a drink of his beer. "You're right, you do sound certifiable."

Bobby knew what Dean was talking about. Alyssa had many times gone off into another world; seeming to ignore him, tune him out.

"Dean, the voice is my mother, or what she left behind for me. A part of her."

"That's what the demon told you? And you believe him? Demons lie, Alyssa. They lie all the time."

"But they also tell the truth when it will do the most damage. When he told me it was my mother in my head, I lost my concentration. He got to me, Dean. That's how he got so close."

"Did this voice tell you it was true?" He was beginning to think Alyssa had finally gone off the deep end.

"Don't look at me like I'm nuts, Dean." She felt dismissed. "The hell with you! I don't care if you believe me or not! I don't need you!" She pushed the chair out from under her hard enough to hit the wall behind her. She left Dean sitting at the table, heading out into the night air, once again alone, but now angry and hurt.

"Good going, Dean." Bobby had heard every word.

"Eavesdropping? Not your style, Bobby."

"When it comes to Alyssa, nothing's beyond me. She's right, Dean. I've seen her sit for hours, looking at the sky." He got off the couch, looking out into the night, seeing Alyssa leaning against the Camaro, drinking her beer. "We had a big argument once. Nothing you need to know about, but I had my opinion about it, and she had hers. After an hour of just sitting, staring off at nothing, she came back in and spoke to me as if she had aged twenty years. The wisdom in her words couldn't have come from anyone else but a mother. Trust me, I remember my own mother. Why is it so hard for you to see that it's possible?"

"I don't know, maybe I'm just jealous, I guess."

"Jealous? What the hell do you have to be jealous about?"

Dean couldn't say the words; he just let his eyes speak for him.

Bobby got the picture. "Oh, I get it. She still has a piece of her mother, and you don't. So you think it's been easier for her, huh?"

"Hasn't it?" Dean felt foolish, but he was being honest, which was hard enough for him to believe.

"Why don't you go ask her? Stop talking to me and go talk to the woman."

"It's not that easy, Bobby. What do I tell her? I'm jealous because you still have your mother and I can barely remember mine? Is that what she wants to hear?"

"She'll want to hear the truth, Dean. You know her."

"She's been gone for ten years. I hardly know anything about her."

"Then get your ass out there and start learning about her again. You Winchesters have no idea how to handle a woman, do you? You don't hide from them, Dean. They don't like to seek. They like to be sought."

Dean looked confused.

"That means she's waiting out there for you to follow her. Now get out of here before I throw you out." Bobby stood up taller to emphasize he wasn't joking.

Dean took the threat seriously and quickly moved out of Bobby's reach towards the door.

The stars blanketed the night sky, broken up by the silhouettes of the trees seeming to reach for them. Alyssa sat on the trunk of the Camaro, listening to the sounds of the night. She loved to watch the sun rise, but her time was the night. Her senses peaked in the absence of light.

Dean wondered if she was listening to the voice in her head now, talking about him.

"I'm alone, Dean. It's just me."

"Are you psychic now?" He joined her on the trunk.

"Nope. Just know you, I guess."

He chuckled thinking about why he'd been sent out here.

"Funny you should say that."

"Idle talk again? Just doesn't seem to fit you." She polished off the remains of her beer, setting the bottle on the trunk next to her.

"I don't think your nuts, Alyssa."

"That's comforting. For a minute there, I thought you were ready to cart me off to the funny farm."

"You're not making this easy, you know."

"Nothing is easy, Dean. Trust me."

"Fair enough. Look, you knew your mom. You got to grow up with her for a while. I didn't. Maybe I'm just…." Bobby neglected to mention just how hard this was going to be.

"You're doing fine. Don't stop now." She turned herself to look at him, wanting him to know she was there, if he needed her.

"I wish…," he stopped himself not wanting to finish the sentence.

"That you had more time with her? That you could talk to her too? Have a piece of her with you?"

"Yeah. I guess that's it." He couldn't see her eyes in the darkness, but he knew the look on her face would be comforting and kind.

"You do have a piece of her, Dean. You always will. It may not be a voice in your head, or a lock of her hair, or a picture of her you carry with you, or some intimate wisdom she passed on to you. You have her love, and that will always be with you, here." She pressed her hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat quickening.

He closed his eyes, feeling the warmth spreading from his chest, reaching into his core.

"My mother kept secrets from me. She never told me what I was, what I could do. This whole world was a mystery to me, until the night she died. I lost her, my father, and my brother to this life. I'm alone, Dean. The voice has been the only friend I've ever had." She pulled her hand away from him, straining to hold back the tears.

He got off the car and stood in front of her, wanting to hold her, but not sure if that's what she wanted. "You're not alone. Not anymore. Sam and me and Bobby, and even Missouri are with you on this. You're not alone, Alyssa." He saw the moon reflected in the one tear she allowed to fall.

"But you guys are as lost as I am on this."

"Then we're lost together, right? Like one big lost, dysfunctional family."

She laughed, not because he was being funny, but because he was right. They were dysfunctional, but they were in this together.

"I want to promise you something." She straightened herself up a bit more.

"What?"

"I promise to do everything in my power, and seeing as I have a crap load of it now this should be relatively easy, to keep Sam safe."

"You can't promise that, Alyssa." The conversation had started out making him uncomfortable, but now he was becoming worried. She was making promises none of them could for certain keep.

"I've already made the promise, Dean. Can't take it back." She got down from the Camaro's trunk and walked back to the cabin, leaving him to stand in the dark with her last words running through his mind.

She stood at the cabin door, looking back at him.

"You coming?"

Unable to find words to argue with her, he walked into the cabin. She started up the stairs first but stopped when he didn't follow.

"I'll be up in a minute."

She continued on to the room, closing the door behind her.

"Bobby, you asleep?" Dean whispered to the sofa.

"No."

Dean spun around to see Bobby emerging from the kitchen with a sandwich and a beer in his hands.

"Jeez." Dean wiped the fear from his face with his hand.

"Sorry, got hungry." He took a bite of the sandwich as he sat at the table. "How'd the talk go?"

"Good, I think. I don't know. I've never done that before. So, okay, I guess."

"Your rambling. Must've gone just fine. She didn't hit you, did she?" He was checking Dean for black eyes, bruises, or other injuries.

"No, but you think she would have?"

"You really don't know her, do you? How long did you two date?"

"About two weeks. We even went on a hunt together, too. Dad didn't know about it."

"But I did."

The two men talked while Bobby ate his sandwich and drank his beer. Dean learned a lot about Alyssa as a teenager, and Bobby learned more about his daughter from the man she had come to trust a great deal.

It was getting late, so Dean said his goodnights to Bobby and went off to Alyssa's bedroom. Even though they were adults, it still made him uneasy for Bobby to see him walking into Alyssa's room.

She was asleep, her breathing regular and deep. What little moonlight shone in the room, revealed to him her peaceful face. There were no tearstains this time, just a slight smile on her lips as she slept. The demon's presence, the fear, and the anger were washed away, at least for a little while.

As he slipped into the bed with her, he felt her move. She turned over to him, laying her head on his shoulder, fitting her body next to his. The warmth spread through him again, washing over him like water, comforting him, easing his own fears, and he welcomed it, letting it send him into a deep, dreamless sleep.

His yellow eyes were full of admiration for his bride-to-be. She'd grown more powerful than he could have imagined. What he thought to be a problem with Dean's influence on Alyssa turned out to be leverage he could use for later. Sam was at the edge now, ready to come over to his side. It would only take one last push, and they would both be his. And the two new additions to the clan were of no consequence and would be dealt with accordingly. It was now only a matter of time.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Sam was the first one up, moving around the cabin quietly so as not to wake up Bobby who was snoring loudly on the sofa. He started the coffee pot, knowing the others were going to need as much caffeine as possible to wake up.

The cool morning air helped him wake up even more. It was his turn to chop the wood, and he wanted to get started early before the day warmed up too much. As he worked on each piece of wood, hitting it with the heavy ax, he went back over the events of the night before.

The demon had been there, and no one had gotten off a shot at him. They didn't have the Colt anymore, so killing him wouldn't have been possible. But something else was going on with Alyssa and the demon. Dean wasn't awake yet, so he couldn't ask him what happened before they had gotten there.

The more he swung at the wood, the better he felt. His own frustrations at his limitations and the unknown were being released as each piece of wood split. It felt good to be doing some kind of physical work other than hunting. He continued on, oblivious anyone in the house was awake.

Alyssa had heard the familiar sound of someone chopping wood. She hadn't wanted to leave the bed, as Dean's body next to hers felt so right, but there were others in the cabin, and breakfast needed to be started.

It smelled like someone had already gotten a head start with the coffee pot. Dressed in her dark blue t-shirt, blue jeans, and her hiking boots, she headed downstairs.

Bobby was still snoring on the sofa. She knew he and Dean had stayed up later than she had, talking. She smiled knowing they had been talking about her. She tiptoed past him, stopping as she saw Sam outside chopping the firewood.

The demon's words from the night before echoed through her mind: she had what Sam wanted; they belonged together; her mother was her guiding voice. She'd been able to find Sam last night and push the blackness through him, ending his need for her. They needed to talk, and now was the best time to do it.

Holding two large cups of coffee, she made her way outside into the cool morning air to have a few moments alone with Sam.

"Thought you could use this. One cream, two sugars, right?"

He was a little taken aback at how she knew his coffee preferences. "Yeah. How'd you know." He took the cup from her. "Thanks."

"I remember things. Saw you doing up your coffee at a few of our restaurant stops."

"Very observant of you." He sat on the chopping block to sip his fresh hot coffee.

"You're welcome." She took up a place on one of the unbroken logs.

"So, why are you out here, Alyssa? It's not safe for you and me to be together without supervision."

"What are we, like thirteen? We don't need chaperones, Sam." She sipped her coffee, burning her tongue.

He smiled. "True."

"What does it feel like? For you, when I open up like that?"

He hadn't told Dean what it felt like, just that it was happening. "It's like something's clawing at my insides, trying to get out, desperate to get to you."

She lowered her eyes, feeling responsible for all of it. "Does it hurt you physically?"

"No, it's not painful. Just very powerful."

Missouri was the first of the remaining sleepers to awaken. Passing by the window she caught sight of Sam and Alyssa out on the woodpile.

"It's about time," she spoke to no one in particular.

"Bout time for what?" Bobby had heard her coming down the stairs. He got up and joined Missouri at the window, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and face. "Is it safe for them to be alone?"

"Who's alone?" Dean rushed down the stairs to see what everyone was fascinated with. "Son of a…" He started for the door, but Missouri stopped him.

"Dean, leave them be. They'll be fine."

"Fine? I've seen what happens when they're alone. It's not fine." The memories of the Bigfoot's cave flashed through his mind.

"Do you trust your brother?"

"That's a stupid question. Of course I do."

"Do you trust Alyssa?"

The question caught him off guard, because he hadn't really thought about how much he trusted her. She trusted him completely, with her life and her emotions, as she had proven last night. But trusting her was different. He had shared some of his feelings with her, and she had been respectful, even understanding.

"Yeah, I trust her." The words went deep, and he knew they were true.

"Then let them be, Dean. They need to talk." Missouri's voice trailed away as she entered the kitchen.

"I'm gonna help her make breakfast. You okay?" Bobby waited for Dean's answer.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Reluctantly, he made his way to the kitchen for his morning cup of coffee.

"It's like knowing you can hit a homerun, but no one's letting you go to bat. All I get are visions of people dying, and they're always associated with the yellow-eyed demon."

"But you believe there's more to you, more that you can do."

"Yeah, I mean, there was once, I moved a large cabinet or something. But it was more like an instinct than an actual ability."

"You moved something, but you didn't mean to. How?"

"I had a vision of Dean," he didn't want to tell her what he had seen. "And I just moved it, like a punch sort of. You know what I mean?"

"I think so. What you had seen caused you to react with your emotions making the cabinet move, right?"

"Yeah. That's it, I guess."

"And you want more of that? Something active, something you can use to help people?"

"Exactly. And you seem to be the way for me to get that, but at a hell of a high price."

"I'm sorry, Sam." She got up to leave him, taking his empty coffee cup with her.

"For what?"

"For finding you and Dean. For being here. For all of this." She left him sitting on the logs, not giving him a chance to say anything more.

Dean had been watching the exchange between his brother and Alyssa, looking for any signs of trouble. Satisfied that things had gone smoothly, he scooted into the kitchen before Alyssa made it in the door.

They gathered around the breakfast Bobby and Missouri had made, almost like a family.

Alyssa didn't feel so alone anymore. There were people who cared about her, and who were willing to put their lives on the line for her.

She knew her time was running out to figure out how to use her own abilities to stop the demon, save Sam, and possibly save the world. She could feel the pressure of the weight on her shoulders.

'_You're not alone anymore, Alyssa. I should go.'_

Not yet. I'm not ready to let go.

'_When you need me the most, I'll be here.'_

Dean noticed Alyssa had been very quiet during breakfast. He wondered if she had been talking to her mother's spirit again. She seemed a bit down, bearing the weight of the world. He helped her and Sam clear the table and clean up the kitchen.

Dean cocked his head to Sam, signaling him to follow him to the back deck.

"What's up, Dean?"

"Were you serious last night? About working on controlling your thing?"

"Controlling my thing? Not exactly the words I would use to describe it?"

"Not that! You know what I mean. Were you serious?"

"You think it's a bad idea?" Sam sat down on the deck chair.

"I don't know. If we can keep you two from getting to each other, we could make a go of it." Dean once again slipped back to seeing his brother all over Alyssa on the altar beneath the mountain.

Sam knew Dean was thinking about the near fiasco under the mountain. "Forget it. It's a bad idea."

"No, I think we can do it. We need to see if you can control it like she can."

"Dean, she's not in control of it either."

"Better than you are, apparently. Stay here." He left Sam on the deck, ducking back in the cabin.

Sam stared off into sky taking in the green of the trees against the blue sky, the stark contrast of the view almost seemed computer-generated. Birds flew from branches to branches as they swayed in the breezes.

"Just hear us out, okay?" Dean was practically dragging Alyssa along to the deck.

"Dean, forget it. If she doesn't want to do this, then it's not going to work." Sam stepped past Dean to leave the deck, but Dean caught his arm, swinging him around.

"She doesn't even know what we've been talking about. Give me a minute to explain it to her."

"Fine." He sat on the deck chair again. Dean sat Alyssa down on the other deck chair, and then sat himself on the same one as his brother.

Alyssa felt teamed up on by the Winchesters. "What's going on?"

"Sam wants to learn to control his part of this problem. So, I was thinking you do your mojo thing, while the rest of us keep everyone apart."

"Are you insane? Remember the last time? And I'm not talking about last night." She couldn't believe Dean was seriously considering this as an option.

"Look, you have more control now. You can shut him down like you did last night."

"Dean, I barely had any control last night."

"But that's because the demon had gotten to you, right? There's no demon here now."

"You're serious, aren't you?" Her hands were trembling thinking of what could go wrong with this experiment, remembering the cave and how it felt to have Sam on her, the power finding its intended mark.

"Dean, she doesn't think it's a good idea. We shouldn't even try." Sam could see the fear in her eyes, fear just not for him but for herself and what she knew could happen.

She thought for a moment. Her mother's voice was silent today. It was her choice, her decision. "No, he's right. You have to find a way to break the connection as well. But you have to want to, Sam. No second-guessing. You either want it or you don't."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

She nodded her head yes, but somewhere deep inside her, she had a very bad feeling about this.

'_Don't doubt yourself. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for.'_

Let's hope I am, for all our sakes.

The arrangements were made. Two chairs were placed in front of the fireplace, facing each other five feet apart. Sam and Alyssa were each tied to a chair. Bobby's expertise at tying knots kept them secured.

Missouri was seated nearest to Alyssa. Bobby and Dean were on either side of Sam. No one was sure if this was a good idea or a bad idea, but it was something they had all agreed they should give a try.

"Ok, Alyssa. Whenever you're ready, so are we." Missouri's kind voice began to fade out as Alyssa looked at Sam.

Alyssa remembered the feeling of the fire burning within her. She no longer needed the emotions to feed it. The air in the room heated rapidly as she grew the flames higher within her mind's eye.

After only a few moments, Bobby had to open the front door to let the rising heat escape. Missouri was already having issues with breathing the hot air surrounding them. Dean tried to ignore his own rage and heat rising to match hers.

Sam felt the need awaken again, wanting her, seeing her there before him. He tried to squash the need, push it back, and silence it behind his own fears for himself and his brother. But it was paying him no mind; it wanted Alyssa, now.

She could feel him responding to her. Alyssa sent out a pulse of her energy, wanting to see just how much he needed it. It touched him, caressing him, working its way into him, finding the need waiting for her.

Sam growled as the connection was made. The desire in him found her, linked to her, and was drawing her into him.

Dean watched his brother fight for control. Alyssa sat unfazed by anything that seemed to be going on. She had more control, but Sam was losing his battle with whatever she was doing.

"Sam, man. Fight it. Cut her off." He placed his hand on Sam's shoulder, noting the muscles beneath his shirt were straining against the ropes keeping him tied to the chair. Something had gone way wrong. "Sam! Can you hear me?"

"He's not hearing or seeing us anymore, Dean. He wants her." Missouri remained next to Alyssa, feeling how she was manipulating the power.

"Bobby, help me hold him back. He's going to break the ropes." They both placed their hands on his shoulders, forcing him back into the chair.

Their eyes never left each other. Alyssa's eyes grew darker, the black of her pupil engulfing the brown. The expression on her face went blank.

"Dean, what's she doing?" Bobby caught sight of the change in Alyssa's eyes.

"She's in a trance of some kind. She's done it a couple of times before."

"Is it a good thing?"

"No. I don't think so."

Sam stopped his struggling against the ropes, his own eyes matching hers.

They both gasped simultaneously, breathing as if they were running. Something was happening between them in a realm only they could see.

Dean saw how Sam's eyes were the same darkness as Alyssa's. "Missouri, bring her back. Try to get her back. Now." He turned back to his brother. "Sam! Can you hear me? Sam!"

"What's going on, Dean?" Bobby wasn't sure whom to help first.

Missouri was speaking to Alyssa, trying to bring her around again.

"I don't know, for sure, but I don't think I want to know. This just needs to end now. Sam! Damn it! Sam!" He smacked his brother's face trying to get his attention off Alyssa and onto him.

Alyssa and Sam had found each other in the flames. The calls of Dean, Bobby, and Missouri were swept away by the heated wind that blew around their subconscious forms.

_It's time, Sam. She's ready for you. Take her, now._

Sam knew this was his final chance to get what he so rightly deserved. The anger of feeling worthless flooded through him. This was his time. No more visions, just power. No more weak, unworthy Sam.

_You're turn, Alyssa. He's here. He can take it all. He's strong enough._

Sam kissed her, gripping her hair in his fingers, crushing her lips to his. His anger flowed through her, as the flames around them grew higher. He remembered what she tasted like, how her body felt wrapped around his, and he wanted to feel it for himself, no more hitchhiking along for the ride. It was his turn to ride that power, in the driver's seat.

Alyssa absorbed his fires, his rage, feeling it spreading through her as his lips found her neck, his hands pressing her body to his. She could see the flames around them twisting to the sky, the inferno building as she felt his hands moving under her shirt, up her back, his fingertips digging into her flesh.

The fireplace was smoldering. Dean knew this was going the wrong way.

"Should we untie them?" Bobby wasn't sure what to do.

"No, leave them tied up. Missouri, are you getting through to her?"

"No, Dean, I can't. They're not here anymore."

"What the hell does that mean?" Dean could see Sam and Alyssa were right in front of him.

"Something's drawn them away from here, far away."

"Crap!" Dean had an idea of what was happening wherever they were. More heat was emanating from the fireplace, and he knew if that thing blew, they'd lose them both.

_Feel the power surging through you, Alyssa. It's awesome, isn't it? Give it all to him. He can handle it and then give it all back, making you both so much stronger._

His anger was so powerful; it spread through her, pulsing against her skin, her own power looking for the one who could take it. She kissed Sam back this time, wanting him to feed her more of his rage, more pain.

She pulled his shirt off over his head revealing the well-formed, cut muscles across his shoulders, down his abs, his lean hips disappearing into his jeans. Raking her fingernails down his stomach caused him to shiver, releasing the pain he felt deep within him. It hit her like a concussive bomb.

Dean left his brother to try his luck with Alyssa. She had someone else in there with her, her mother. Maybe he could plead with her to help them. He knelt before her, holding her face directly in front of him, blocking her view of Sam.

"Alyssa, please, you have to stop this. I'm sorry. You were right, I was wrong. We shouldn't have done this." He didn't seem to be getting through. "You promised me, Alyssa. Remember?"

The voice echoed through the darkness surrounding them, beyond the reach of the flames.

'_You promised, Alyssa.'_

'I can't stop. It hurts. I have to let it out.'

'_You promised, Alyssa. You can't do this. You made a promise.'_

_Take her now, Sam. You have her right where you need her. Take her, NOW!!_

'_The promise, Alyssa. Remember the promise.'_

What promise? She tried to think through the walls of flames around them, but Sam's body on hers was distracting her. He was ready to take it all from her, poised to take her over the edge.

Flesh to flesh they were but moments away from his grasp. The demon smiled.

"Alyssa! What's your mother's name?" He was still trying to get through to her. She'd whispered 'promise', so he knew he was getting somewhere.

'My mother's name is Rebecca,' she spoke against Sam's shoulder.

"Your mother's name is Rebecca? Is that right, Alyssa?"

'_Alyssa, look at me.'_

'What? You're dead. How can I look at you?'

'_See me, Alyssa. I'm right here.'_

Alyssa saw her mother's form standing just beyond the fire, her face peaceful and beautiful.

"Alyssa, I want it, now. I want you now." Sam could feel the change happening again. His grip was weakening. He didn't want her to stop. He bit her to bring back the anger and pain.

Alyssa cried out as Sam's teeth broke the skin of her healed scars. The flames grew higher, hiding her mother's face.

"What the hell was that?" Dean saw a trail of blood trickling down Alyssa's neck from her scars.

_The pain feeds it. Give her more pain, Sam. Bite her, attack her, and take her. You can't let her go. She's yours._

'_She belongs to no one,' _her mother's voice shouted back_._

_She belongs to me, just as he does. You've failed, Rebecca. Your precious line ends as my whore, my bride._

'_No, Alyssa is stronger than this. Alyssa, hear me.'_

'Mother, please, I don't want to be this. End my life.'

"What are you talking about? Who's ending your life?" The panic swarmed over his heart. He swore no one would die, and yet it seemed he just might be wrong. "Alyssa, please. You promised to protect Sam."

'_Alyssa, you promised Dean. You can't break your promise.'_

_This is the one you need, Alyssa. Sam is the key to your power. You are the key to his. Feel it. Feel the anger. Feel the pain. Remember what it was like to put that bullet in your brother's chest. It's all yours, now. _

She remembered her brother's eyes as he passed away in her arms. She had tried to save her brother, but she'd failed. Now Dean's brother was in her arms, waiting for her to save him.

Sam eyes were dark and glaring at her. He wanted to feel what he'd been denied. There was something driving him to this point, she could almost see it, but it evaded her attempts to find it. But she knew it was something in his past that had left its mark, guiding him to what he thought he wanted. This wasn't Sam, and she had to stop him.

"Not again. This time it's mine." Sam's voice had become harsh and demanding. Dean looked over his shoulder at his brother's words.

"Sam, no." She held him close to her and beckoned the darkness beyond the flames to smother them.

Dean held her face in his hands, watching her eyes becoming opalescent, not the white like before. He sucked in a breath as the bitter cold hit his skin.

Sam's watched as the flames died, the darkness consuming him, the promise of the power was once again stripped from his grasp.

Dean watch as Sam's eyes returned to normal, the realization of what had almost happened setting into his brother's furrowed brow. He was still tied to the chair.

Bobby could tell it was Sam, back from wherever he had been, so he quickly untied him.

"What the hell happened? Where the hell were we?"

"You tell us. Look at her."

Sam saw the different look of Alyssa's eyes as she fought to contain the flames that still surrounded her. She had been there with him, in the fire. They had been so close. He'd almost taken her, almost destroyed them.

'_I give you what I have left, Alyssa, to fight him. The power of your lineage is now yours.'_

'Mom, don't go. Please, not again.'

"What's going on, Alyssa." Dean saw the tears falling from Alyssa's eyes.

"Dean, it's her mother." Missouri could only sit by and watch as Alyssa dealt with this new gift alone.

'_You are the last of us. Don't fail us.'_

The blinding light in her mind doused every remaining ember of what she had started, releasing her from the demon's hold.

Alyssa screamed as the pain shot through her head, her mother's death once again fresh in her mind, the blood, the tears, and the last whisper of her name.

Her head snapped back down, seeing Dean's eyes. The fear she saw in his face told her all she needed to know, that she'd almost failed again. She tried to get up, but feeling she was still tied down, she screamed to be set free.

"Get them off! Get them off me!" she was desperate to break the confines of the ropes.

Dean quickly undid the knots, releasing her. He expected her to fall into him, wanting him to hold her, but instead she took off to the deck in the back of the cabin.

No one followed her as she ran from everyone and everything she could. She had killed her brother and now her own mother. The horror of what she had almost allowed to happen set in, and following that was the guilt that she had cost her mother her soul.

Sam knew this was because of him. He had wanted to learn to control the need, hoping to attain some powers for himself. Instead, he had seen just how close he had come to falling into the demon's clutches and destroying his own family.

"Sam, you okay?" Dean was checking for injuries, burns, or anything that might be wrong with him.

"I'm okay, Dean. I'm sorry. This is my fault. I should have never tried." He felt like a failure.

"It's not your fault, Sam. We all walked into this knowing something could go wrong, and we accepted the consequences of it." He wanted his brother's conscience clear of this. If anyone was to blame, it was to be him. He had pushed Alyssa to do this, more for his own desire to protect his brother than anything else.

"Is anyone going to go out there with her?" Bobby had seen it with his own eyes, but he wasn't sure if he was drunk or sober.

"Leave her for right now. When she needs someone, she'll find you." Missouri had felt the death of Alyssa's mother, and it hurt her to her very core. She hadn't been there for the boys when they watched their mother sacrifice her own spirit to protect her sons. But this had been close to her, she'd been here for it, and saw the damage it had done. "I guess I should get ready to go, now. I'm not needed here anymore."

Alyssa felt like she was ten years old again: frightened and alone. She waited for the voice to once again comfort her, but there was nothing.

'Why did I have to find them? Why didn't I just keep going on my way? Why did I get off the damned bus?' The why's and what if's kept going around in her head, but she heard no answers to them.

Missouri was packed and saying her goodbye's to the boys and Bobby. Alyssa was still out on the deck, not wanting to be a part of anything happening in the cabin.

"Alyssa, I'm leaving." Missouri found her huddled against the wall, trying to stay in the shadows.

"I'm sorry." Her voice hitched as she continued to cry.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Yes, I do. I failed." She wiped the tears from her face, trying to bring back the bravado she sported so well to hide her emotions, but it had been shattered with no hope of repair.

"You didn't fail. You evolved. You have more than you could possibly imagine now. Your destiny is almost complete."

"Yeah, all that's left now is to turn Sam evil and kill Dean."

"Your destiny is yet to be decided, and only you can decide it. There is much you have yet to do, young lady. I expect to see you again. Goodbye for now, Alyssa."

Bobby had offered to take Missouri to the airport for her flight home. Sam had given him the directions and the keys to the Camaro.

"Are we just going to leave her out there?" Sam knew Dean was worried about her, but he seemed to be more concerned with him at the moment.

"What happened? What did you see?"

"We…the demon was there. I heard him talking to me. Then I heard a woman's voice. I guess it was her mother, but I couldn't concentrate."

"Do you want it that much, Sam?" The seeds of jealousy were beginning to sprout in his heart. "Do you want to be a monster so bad that you'd…you almost did her, didn't you?"

"I don't want what the demon wants, Dean. It's something inside me I can't control that wants it." He didn't want to answer the second question. "And yes, I almost did. But I was sitting right there the whole time, wasn't I?" he pointed at the chair he'd been tied down to.

"Damn, Sam! Where did the blood come from on her?" He was looking at the possibility of having to keep his promise to Dad.

"I did that to her. But it wasn't real. We were sitting right there. How could it have been real?"

"I don't know. We'll figure it out. I'm just glad you're okay." He looked at the back of the cabin. "I'm going to see to her." He placed the gun he had hidden behind his back on the dining room table just as a precaution.

Alyssa hadn't moved from where Missouri had left her. She was going over the moment she'd had Dean's gun in her hand. She didn't have the strength to pull the trigger, then. But now, it was a different story. Her true form had been revealed, and she was a threat to everyone around her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Stupid question, he mentally smacked himself. Her face was streaked with the tears she had finally let out, sticking her long hair to her cheeks. "Come back inside. You're not staying out here all day."

"No," she whispered.

"Don't be like this. C'mon." He reached down to take her arm.

She grabbed the back of his shirt with her left hand, swept his legs out from under him, and flipped him face down on the deck. She was holding him there while she patted him down for a gun.

"I took it out already," he saw the stars spinning in his vision. Damn, she's good, he thought. Her skin touching his sent the heat through him again, meaning she was pissed off.

She released him, disappearing before he could get on his feet.

"Sam, grab the gun!" He got up to chase after her.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

Sam heard his name and the three words that followed, registering it all within a half a second. He snatched the gun from the table before she could reach it, holding it behind his back.

"Sam, I'll break your arms." She moved in on him, fast.

Thinking on instinct, he pulled the gun on her, finger on the trigger, arms steady as if sighting down a monster.

"Sam, what the hell are you doing?" Dean couldn't believe his eyes. His brother was going to do what she wanted to do to herself.

"Sam, you know what you have to do." She spread her hands as if to show him she was ready for this. She moved closer, putting the barrel right between her eyes.

"Sam, don't! This isn't the answer!" 'How the hell had things gotten this crazy,' he thought.

"Do it, Sam. I'm a monster. I'm a danger to you, to Dean. Just do it. Save your family." She closed her eyes, waiting to see the light she knew awaited her.

Sam knew if he pulled the trigger, he'd be safe, Dean would be safe, and the demon would lose. But doubts still surfaced in his mind and heart.

Would taking her life put him that much closer to being evil, going "dark side" as he liked to call it? Or would killing her keep the demon from reaching his ultimate goal, saving them and humanity? He wasn't sure what to do, but she seemed willing to die to protect them.

They were all in danger as long as she lived. He took the gun in his left hand, pushing the barrel into her skin, his finger ready to pull the trigger.

"Sam! No!" Dean moved to stop his brother, but he saw something move other than the gun.

Alyssa saw the light she'd been waiting for, but behind it was the blackness of unconsciousness.

Sam had knocked her out with a well-placed right hook across her chin. The resounding thud her body made as it hit the floor echoed through the cabin.

"You know she's going to beat the crap out of you when she wakes up."

"Yeah, well, maybe we should tie her up again," he was shaking the numbness out of his knuckles. "She's got a hard head."

"So do you," Dean picked her up off the floor, carrying her to the sofa. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking of pulling the trigger."

"Why? She's not a hunt, Sam." Dean's eyes smoldered with anger at his little brother's reckless thinking.

"She's a threat to us, to others. Isn't that what we do? Kill things that can hurt others?"

"She hasn't hurt anyone. You're alive. I'm alive. No one is dead because of her."

"What about her brother?" Sam knew that would hurt Dean, but it needed to be said. "She killed her brother, Dean. The demon wants her because she's powerful. Maybe too powerful for her own good. She dies, the threat is gone."

"Are you so sure? What makes you think the demon doesn't have something else up his sleeve? And what if she can kill him?"

"Then why hasn't she done it yet? Why isn't that yellow-eyed bastard dead? Because she's not in control, he is!"

"Maybe she just needs more time to learn. Why are you so desperate to kill her? Why do you want her dead all of a sudden?"

The questions burned into his mind. He wasn't the one who usually did the killing first and ask questions later bit. "Because if she turns me, you'll have to kill her and me. Is that what you want?"

"She won't turn you, Sam. She promised me she wouldn't. I trust her."

"Really? I was pretty damn close, and she didn't even look like she wanted to stop me."

Dean turned his back on Sam, his own thoughts replaying what he had woken up to in the cave. He didn't want to think of what could have happened in that place the demon had taken his brother and Alyssa.

"Maybe she won't be able to keep that promise, and the best thing we can do is to make sure she doesn't have to." Sam laid the gun on the dining table and walked out the door.

The sunlight shone on the chrome of the 9mm sitting on the table in front of him. The Mother-of-Pearl inlay grip was still warm from Sam's hand. Dean stuck the gun behind his back tucked away in his pants, where he knew it would be should he need it.

Dean followed his brother outside, sitting next to him on the Impala's trunk.

"This is like Madison again, isn't it?" He had fought with Sam's optimism to find a cure for the werewolf girl he'd fallen for.

After she discovered the truth about herself, Madison asked Sam to kill her. It had torn him apart to have to pull the trigger. He wanted to believe that she wouldn't have to die, but there was no other way.

Dean had gone through his life protecting Sam from making those hard decisions. Sometimes people had to die to protect the masses. Madison was one of those who had to be sacrificed to protect others. The sinking feeling in the pit of Dean's stomach was telling him Alyssa might be another one of those people.

"Yeah, only I'm on the other side this time." Sam understood what his brother was feeling. He had tried so hard to find a way to cure Madison, but their efforts were for naught. She had become a werewolf, and no cure could be found for her. She hadn't wanted to live knowing she would kill innocent people. His hopes for saving himself were dying with each person he and his brother couldn't protect.

Alyssa came to, feeling the pain on the side of her head. She wasn't dead, which meant one of them had knocked her out. Slowly, she rose from the couch, cradling the side of her face that was swelling. Neither Sam nor Dean was around.

'Good thing for them,' she thought.

She stopped her train of thought waiting for the calming advice of the voice she'd come to depend on, but she remembered the voice was no longer there. A part of her was gone, and the void it left behind stabbed its way through her heart.

She could see Sam and Dean outside, sitting on the back of the Impala, talking. First and foremost in her mind was to find out which one of them had clocked her, but she pushed the urge for revenge aside to think of her next move.

She knew Dean wouldn't let her go; he'd already said he wouldn't. Sam had had the opportunity, but for some reason, he had buckled. Bobby was another option, but not a good one. He thought of her as a daughter, and asking him to take her life probably wasn't in the cards, unless she could convince him it was the only way to save Sam and Dean. It was something to think about for later.

"So, now that the shoe's on the other foot, what do we do?" Dean wasn't giving up on Alyssa. He knew there was some part of her that could help them; he only had to find a way to get to it, or guide her to find it herself.

"Dean, I know you care about her, a lot."

"No one said I didn't."

"It's more than you're willing to admit."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've seen how you look at her. I've seen the way she looks at you."

"Is that an interesting observation in an observationally interesting way?" He smiled, not only because of the joke, but because Sam was right about the way he looked at Alyssa.

"Funny. It's not like you and Cassie. Alyssa can hold her own in a fight, Dean. And she's not the kind of woman we come along very often. She knows the life. She knows the tricks of the trade."

"But…" Dean could feel it coming.

"But, she's beyond what we've dealt with before. She has abilities from other psychics and not to mention whatever she was born with. She's become a danger."

"You mean a monster," Dean kicked the ground with his boot, feeling as though his part of the world was sliding off the grid.

"I don't know for sure. But I do know if she can't get a handle on this, whatever it is, she may end up becoming something we need to stop." Sam hated crushing his brother the way it felt he was doing. But the truth needed to be told and hopefully he was listening.

"I hear you, Sam. But I'm not ready to give up on her so easily."

Sam sighed harshly getting ready to start another round of convincing his brother to see things from his perspective.

"Don't. Just listen. You're right. I do look at her differently than I did Cassie. I don't have to hide who or what I am from Alyssa. And that takes a lot of pressure off as far as being around her. I respect her because she's been through a hell of a lot, and she survived it all, alone, and she hasn't gone insane like Gordon."

"Whatever she is doesn't matter to me. I'm not giving her up to that yellow-eyed son of a bitch. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. I don't know what it all means right now, but I'm not ready to let her go just yet. I want her to fight. I want to fight with her. And I want to know you'll be there fighting, too."

Sam looked at his brother's face. The sincerity of his words was shocking. He hadn't heard something like this from his brother since the day he told him about Dad's last words. Thinking back to Madison, Dean had gone against his instincts to kill Madison to help find a cure, because he had asked him to. Now Dean was asking him to do the same for Alyssa.

"Okay. I'll fight with you for her, but, Dean, if she can't do it…"

"I know, I know. Thanks." He clapped his brother on the shoulder.

They started back towards the cabin, stopping just shy of the Impala's front bumper. Alyssa was on the porch waiting for them.

"He did it." Dean pointed at Sam.

"You're a hell of a wingman, you know that?"

"Just doing my best to stay out of arm's or leg's length, little brother."

"Alyssa, I'm…." Sam's eyes told of how much it had hurt him to do what he had done.

"Don't. I should be apologizing to you. I never should have put you in that position. I owe you both an apology."

"Thanks." Sam climbed the steps, hugged her as a brother would a sister, and promptly left them on the porch together.

"Let's get you an icepack for that, okay?" Dean was inspecting the swollen part of her jaw. The familiar and more-than-welcomed feeling washed over him as his fingers touched her face.

"Dean, I heard what you said. If you're willing to fight for me, then I should respect you enough to fight for myself. And I will."

"No more of this "end my life" crap?"

"No more," she chuckled.

"Apology accepted. Now let's get some ice."

Bobby pulled the Camaro next to the Impala as the late afternoon sun was hitting the porch side of the cabin. He had had time to talk to Missouri about Alyssa during the car ride. And on the way back, he had had time to revisit his memories of his time with her.

There had been clues during her training that he had dismissed as nothing more than coincidences. Now he wasn't so sure that was the case.

"Hey, Bobby. Missouri get on the plane okay?" Alyssa held the ice pack to her face as she lounged on the couch.

"What the hell happened to you?" He moved her hand to see the redness and swelling on the left side of her jaw.

Before she had a chance to answer him, Sam came out from the laundry room.

"That was my fault, Bobby."

"You're losing your touch, girl. The boy is still walking." He checked her jaw to make sure nothing was broken or fractured.

Alyssa winced at the pain Bobby's fingers were causing. "He had a good reason. It was his one free shot."

"Keep the ice on it for a while longer. Where's Dean?"

"Out here, Bobby!"

Bobby followed Dean's voice to the back deck. Weapon parts were scattered across the table.

"You want to tell me what happened to Alyssa's face?" He sat down and helped himself to cleaning a black 9mm sitting in front of him.

"She had a moment of weakness. But she's good now."

"A moment of weakness? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't worry. It's all taken care of." Dean had finished with the Glock and was reassembling it.

"And to take care of this 'moment of weakness' required a right hook?" Bobby had the 9mm in pieces in no time.

"Yeah. But, like I said, it's fine now. She's fine." Dean didn't think it was important to worry Bobby about Alyssa's earlier issue.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"Nothing to tell." Dean started on the .38 revolver, ignoring Bobby's stare.

The weapons were cleaned, oiled, and sharpened, ready for battle. As the sun was setting, the night air grew colder. The fire was burning bright and warm in the fireplace.

Alyssa sat on the couch alone finger-combing her drying her hair in the heat of the fire. Dean was showering, and Bobby and Sam were at the dining table looking through Alyssa's sketchbook page by page.

Sam turned each page, scrutinizing each and every image, looking for something they were missing. The page of the demon's vision was still disturbing, but somehow wrong.

Bobby was doing his best to help, but he wasn't sure what he should be seeing.

"Alyssa, come here." Sam had stopped on the image of Alyssa and the demon.

"What's up?" She joined them at the table, seeing the sketch she wished she'd never drawn.

"These other sketches were visions you had, right? All of them?"

"All except that one."

"This wasn't your vision. This was what he showed you."

"We know that already, Sam." This was old news to her.

Sam continued to stare at it. "Why the one child?"

"What?"

"Why did he only show you the one child? This one." He put his finger on the infant in her arms.

"My one wish has always been to have a child. He picked up on that and used it on me."

"But why not show you with more children? If he wanted you bad enough, he would have promised you more than one child. Why not show you a whole family of children?"

"I'm not getting where you're coming from with this, Sam."

"He showed you one child. This one." His finger again was on the infant. "Why show you pregnant with another? Why not show you more, to tempt you?"

Bobby was just as confused as Alyssa. He didn't see the image as anything more than the other visions in the book.

"Demons lie, Sam. We know that for a fact." Bobby stated what he knew of demons.

"But they also tell the truth when they know it will do the most mental and emotional damage. They get a thrill out of causing suffering and misery." Alyssa had felt the pain when the demon told her of her mother's spirit.

"True. But this doesn't make sense. All these other visions have a common theme." Sam continued on with his theory.

"What common theme?" Bobby still couldn't see it.

"Everything about these other visions is tangible. Every aspect is something that has happened." Sam flipped through the pages of the sketchbook, stopping on the demon's vision once again. "This one is the only one that doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense?" Dean had finished his shower and joined the party at the table.

"This vision. Dean, it wasn't her vision. It was the demon. He gave this to her in her head, made her see it. So technically, it's void."

"What are you talking about?" Dean wasn't sure where the conversation had come from, but he wanted to know more.

"She can't have kids. So, if he wanted her to come to his side, why not show her with several children he can promise her?"

"Maybe he can't promise that?" Dean was beginning to see something was very wrong with the picture.

"Wait a minute? Are you saying that this vision isn't a vision?" Alyssa could see a revelation on the horizon, but she couldn't quite grasp it.

"He shows her one child, but shows her pregnant with what we think is another. What if it's symbolic, not literal?" Sam was going somewhere with this, but even he didn't know where it would lead.

"Okay, let's go with that." Bobby interjected. "But what are the symbolic meanings of a mother?"

"In some cultures, the pregnant woman was the symbol of the mother of all the world," Sam began, "and she was its creator."

"That's comforting," Alyssa didn't see much hope in this explanation either. "If this is meant to be more symbolic, then I'm to be the mother of a new world, right? The mother of a demonic world." She twisted locks of her hair through her fingers.

Bobby caught Alyssa's hair-twisting response to Sam's news. He hadn't seen her do that in years, not since she put the one boy who tried to kiss her in the hospital. She was nervous and worried, and the only way she dealt with it was to twist her hair through her fingers. He wanted to ease her mind.

"But you said this could all be just symbolic, right? This vision isn't tangible because it wasn't hers to start with."

"Yeah. Exactly. He knew your one wish, uses it, and then throws this on top of it to supposedly make the deal sweeter. We think he wants her to create half-breeds with, but…"

"Maybe it wasn't him at all," Alyssa's fingers stopped in her hair.

"What are you thinking, girl." Bobby knew she had something.

"He's not standing with me but apart from me, not touching me. That means he has no control, there's a boundary he can't cross." Alyssa was beginning to see it.

"But I'm in the middle of the two of you, but lower. What's that mean?" Sam asked her.

"You're a boundary, not what's keeping him from me, but a part of that. The child in my arms is hope. Something I carry with me at all times." She pointed to the image of her swollen belly, "The fate of the world rests within me, the promise of something to come. I stand between that which is good, the baby, and that which is evil, him. I have to choose."

All three men stared at Alyssa as she deciphered the picture.

"Do you feel that's true, Alyssa?" Sam broke the silence.

"Yes." She took the sketchbook from Sam, looking at the picture one last time. She tore the page from the book, holding it in her hand, and got up from the table.

"What are you going to do with that?" Bobby could see her mind was set on something.

"Just wait here, please, all of you." Alyssa walked out of the cabin to her car.

"What's that all about?" Dean didn't know if he should ignore her plea to stay put and follow her. He started to move, but Bobby stopped him.

"She said for us to stay put, Dean," he grabbed his arm, pulling him back to the chair.

Alyssa opened the trunk of the Camaro, looking through her herbs and oils. She selected the necessary banishing items and closed the trunk. Still staring at the picture, she was already envisioning it burning into oblivion, releasing its hold on her, as she made her way back inside and knelt before the fireplace.

The men watched as Alyssa stared into the flames. She anointed the picture with the oils she had brought in from her car and cut her hand with the ritual knife, adding her blood to the spell.

"What's she doing, Bobby?" Sam whispered.

"Not sure. Just watch," he whispered back.

Alyssa sprinkled the paper with herbs, folded it tightly, and held it before her, just out of the reach of the fire. In her mind's eye, she saw the paper burning brightly, the curse of what the paper held releasing itself from her. She threw the folded picture into the fire, watching the flames turning colors as the oils and herbs burned.

"What the…?" Dean was readying himself to fetch the paper from the fire; it was their only clue to the demon's plan.

"Don't." Bobby ordered him again. "It's her thing, Dean. Let it go."

There was a change in the air around them as the paper burned. Alyssa closed her eyes, willing the future to be different, asking her ancestors for guidance and protection. Her lineage was hers now, her mother had told her. She needed to draw power from the line of witches in her family to help her fight the upcoming battle. A warm breeze blew through the cabin as the remaining embers faded to ashes.

"Now, you can go to her." Bobby released his arm.

"Now I'm not so sure I want to," but Dean left his chair to join Alyssa at her side. "Alyssa." He whispered her name, not wanting to startle her.

"I choose my own destiny," she remained staring at the flames. "I choose. Not him."

Silence reigned as they each made their way through the rest of the evening. Sam, Bobby, and Dean consumed the dinner they had made, offering some to Alyssa, but she politely refused, excusing herself to her room.

"What was the whole burning thing she did, Bobby?"

"I've only seen her do it once before. She was having problems with the other girls in high school, teasing her, getting her into trouble. She'd already gotten into a fight with one, so I told her to find another way to deal with it. She took a yearbook, cut out the pictures of the all the girls in the school, and burned them, just like that. Only she had candles, salt, water, incense, the works."

"Did it work?" Sam was just finishing the sandwich he'd made.

"Yeah. About a week later, she was coming home more settled, calmer, even looking forward to school the next day. Made my life a bit easier, too. No more phone calls for a while, until the guys started up on her."

"What did she do about them?" Dean started in on his second sandwich.

"Beat the crap out of a few of them. Got the message to the others to leave her alone."

"I believe it." They all smiled imagining how tough Alyssa must have been as a teenager.

Alyssa sat on the edge of the four-poster bed, staring out the window into the night sky, whispering to the darkness.

"I know you're not there anymore. Please forgive me for not seeing this sooner and protecting you. Thank you for guiding me, being there with me, and for your sacrifice. I will not fail you or our ancestors." She held her knees to her chest, rocking herself back and forth, as a mother would rock a child in comfort. "I miss you, Mom."

Bobby had gone off to sleep in Alyssa's old room, which was no longer pink. She'd found her brother's old sheets and changed out the bedding for him. Sam and Dean were left at the table, finishing off their last beers for the night.

"You think she's right about the picture?" Dean asked his brother.

"Yeah. It makes sense. I mean…I don't know what I mean."

"Spill it." Sam was hiding something from him.

"Dean, the picture didn't feel right. It didn't mesh with the others. And she pretty much hit the nail on the head."

"But what about the last picture, in the church? Does that one mesh?"

"We both saw it, so it's real enough. Don't know how we're going to stop that one." Sam left Dean at the table and put the fire out in the fireplace. He was off to bed, too.

"Good night, Dean."

"Night, Sam."

Alone at last, he had time to think. He thought back to the events of earlier in the day. Alyssa had been hell bent on ending it all. When he'd seen her walk up to the barrel of the gun in Sam's hand, the panic had risen in his throat. He had been certain he was about to watch his brother shoot her, but Sam had come through for him.

He wasn't sure what having Alyssa in his life meant for him personally. Since the fiasco with Cassie, he'd avoided anything longer than a one-night stand. But now he looked forward to lying in a bed next to the same woman he'd been with for three weeks now. He shook his head, smiling to himself, as he thought of how things had changed for him.

"What's so funny," her voice coming from the darkness startled him, causing him to choke on the beer in his mouth. "Oh, sorry," she giggled.

Sputtering and coughing to empty the beer from his lungs, he laughed a bit at himself. "I'm okay."

She sat next to him at the table, her long blue silk robe tied tightly around her.

"You never answered my question. What's so funny?"

"Just thinking. Why are you up?" He thought of what she was wearing, or not wearing, under the robe.

"Couldn't sleep, and I was beginning to think you weren't coming up," she slipped her bare leg out of the robe, crossing it over her knee.

Dean saw her seductive move, knowing what was on her mind. He placed his hand on her knee, fully expecting the warmth to spread over him, reaching into him, and he was not disappointed. He slid his hand up her thigh as he moved closer to her, leaning down to kiss her.

The touch of his fingers on her thigh sent shockwaves across her skin. His kiss was hungry, demanding, and she was willing to submit.

He pulled her off the chair to him, feeling her body molding to fit his own. His thoughts were only of her, how she fit into him, into his world, into his life. As he carried her pressed against him to the bedroom, he could only think of how he didn't want to let her go. That thought should have scared the hell out of him, and normally it would have, but he remembered Alyssa was not a normal woman, far from normal.

His yellows eyes burned in the night as he watched the cabin. The sacrifice her mother had made had put a temporary damper on things. Sam had almost made it, but that foolish woman had stepped in the way. Even death hadn't stopped her from helping her daughter.

Now that she was gone though, the plan was well on its way to completion, even ahead of schedule. The next step was under way, and then the finale would play out exactly how he had spent the last eighteen years making sure it would. The demon smiled; success was imminent.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Sam's dreams were haunted by the images of Alyssa, the fire, and the demon. He woke up in a cold sweat, the need in him having been stirred by his nightmares. He lay in the bed, his body entangled in the blanket, trying to quiet the hunger within him.

Alyssa had found some way to do it, some darkness that bathed him in peace. He searched for the darkness within himself but only found the need that hungered for her and what she could offer. He gave up, resigning himself to avoiding Alyssa as much as possible until this was over.

Bobby had risen early, more by habit, and had started breakfast. He was frying up the bacon in hopes of rousing the kids from their sleep. He was awarded for his efforts when Sam came into the kitchen.

"Hey, Sam." He noticed Sam's face was etched with worry. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Bobby. Just didn't sleep well." He grabbed the orange juice from the refrigerator and poured himself a tall glass. "You need help with anything?"

"Yeah, you could get the toast going. Dean and Alyssa up yet?" He stirred the scrambled eggs to keep them from burning.

"Not yet. Let 'em sleep." If she stays in bed all day, I'll be happy, he thought to himself.

"It won't take long for Dean to smell the food and come running."

"What am I, a dog?" Dean had smelled the bacon and knew breakfast was on.

"Where's Alyssa?" Sam was buttering the toast for their meal.

"She's still asleep." Dean could feel the tension in Sam's voice when he said Alyssa's name. Something's up, he thought, but they'd talk about it later. "Just save her a plate. She'll eat later."

"Will do."

With breakfast done and cleaned up, the guys set about to make sure all other chores were done. It was Dean's turn to chop the wood, Sam cleaned out the fireplace, and Bobby was in the back yard, checking to make sure the propane grill was working properly.

Alyssa rolled over in the bed, stretching an arm out expecting to find Dean still nestled in with the covers and pillows but instead felt the empty space next to her. Listening carefully, she heard the distant sound of the ax hitting its mark. The smell of food woke her stomach, reminding her she hadn't eaten since yesterday morning.

Dressed from head to toe in black, she made her way downstairs, but froze when she saw Sam cleaning the fireplace, covered in soot and sweat from his work.

Alyssa recalled the feel of his body on hers, his skin beneath her fingers, the way he had bit her to drive her further to giving him what he wanted. She felt sick to her stomach with the thoughts of Sam running through her mind. 'A match made in hell,' the demon's own words.

She pulled herself together enough to greet him.

"Good morning, Sam," but she didn't stop for a response. She headed for the kitchen, stopping at the sink waiting for the fear to ease, hoping he wouldn't follow. In case he did, she busied herself with getting something to drink. Her hunger was gone now, swallowed by the nausea.

She took her soda and left the cabin by way of the back deck, observing Bobby messing with the dials on the propane grill.

"It needs more gas. The tank's been empty for a while."

Bobby jumped, holding his chest as his heart rate slowed. "You know you're going to kill me with all you sneaking around like that."

"I wasn't sneaking. I just walked out here. Not my fault you don't hear too well, old man."

"Old man? I oughta…." He started, but seeing her cock an eyebrow at him, he waved her off. "You're right. You'd kick my ass in no time."

She smiled as he turned back to the grill, removing the propane tank.

She jumped down from the deck, landing near him, and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'll take this to town and get a refill." She took the propane tank from him.

He watched as she headed off to the front of the cabin. He was proud of who she had become, as a hunter and as a woman. "Did you eat breakfast?" he yelled after her.

"Don't worry about me," she called back as she disappeared around the corner of the house.

Dean heard her talking to someone as she came around from the back of the cabin. In her hand, she carried a propane tank. He stopped chopping the wood as she came over to say good morning.

"Hey," she kissed him, tasting the sweat on his lips. "Hot and sweaty. Just like I like 'em." She teased him.

"Where are you going?" Dean felt the warmth rush through him.

"Off to town to get another propane tank. Be right back." She pulled the Camaro out of the drive, the window down with her favorite music pouring from the speakers.

It seemed nothing could touch her today. The first few moments of seeing Sam were wiped clean from her memory. She didn't want anything to ruin this day. She was happy with herself, something she hadn't felt in such a very long time.

She pulled into the General Store and took the propane tank to her long-time friend, Hank.

"Hello, Hank. How are things today?" she found the older gentleman with the beer belly and rainbow suspenders stocking his shelves with cereal boxes.

"Well, howdy, Miss Alyssa. I'm well. How about you?" he saw the tank in her hand and made his way to the back of the store.

"I'm good. What's the news around town?"

"The only real buzz around here is your upcoming wedding." He handed her a fresh propane tank.

"What?" She whispered.

"Your wedding. Everyone's talkin' about it. It's one of the biggest events we've had here in town in a long time." The look on her face caused him to stop a moment. "Miss Alyssa, are you okay?"

She set a twenty-dollar bill on the counter. "Keep the change, Hank." She made it to the car before she realized she'd been holding her breath.

How did he know? Did they all know? She looked around the town, noticing people pointing at her; even tourists were talking amongst themselves while eyeing her.

"Are you okay, Miss Alyssa?" Hank had followed her out of the store, the concern in his eyes genuine.

"How…Why do you think I'm this mystery bride?" She tried to compose herself enough to ask the question.

"You're picture's in the church, right next to the man who built it." He pointed to the steeple reaching above the tree line two blocks away.

Alyssa threw the propane in the back seat of the Camaro and stormed off to walk the two blocks to the church. Along the way, she heard the whispers of tourists and locals alike. The breeze, seeming to hit her in the gut with each word, carried the low mutterings of "It's her".

She stepped through the church doors, ignoring the painful memories of her vision, and looked at the large portrait of the demon's human host. The portrait next to his sent ice through her veins. Her long brown hair could have been anyone's, but the eyes were hers as was the slightest peak of a scar on the right side of her neck. She'd never posed for such a portrait. Putting herself in the public eye made her job more difficult as it did for all hunters.

"Hello, again, my dear."

The hand on her elbow nearly sent her nerves into overdrive. She had to restrain herself from hitting the elderly woman she had met the first time she'd entered the church. Alyssa almost didn't recognize her in the floral dress she wore.

"I'm sorry. You startled me."

"I apologize, sweetie. Is there something I can do for you?"

"No. I'm fine. Thank you." Alyssa moved past the elderly woman, desperate to escape the overwhelming case of claustrophobia threatening to encompass her mind.

"See you soon, Miss Alyssa."

Alyssa looked back up the stairs to see the elderly woman waving at her, her eyes the depthless black of possession.

Dean heard the car before he saw it, and he knew by the way she was gunning up the hill, there was trouble.

She had to warn them; they were no longer alone. Demons had come to town. They needed to protect themselves and prepare for whatever may come their way. She tried to concentrate on the road ahead knowing the twists and turns by heart but not wanting to go too fast and wreck her car.

As she pulled in next to the Impala, Dean was waiting on the porch. Sam and Bobby joined him as she cut the engine.

"Where's the fire?" Bobby knew he taught her to treat a car with more respect than she was currently showing.

"We've got demons in town." She announced as she opened the trunk.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked.

"Sam, I know what a demon looks like. And yes, I'm sure." She was holding two bags of salt as she walked into the cabin. "Better get yours out too. I don't know how much we'll need."

"How many?" Bobby helped carry in two more salt bags.

"I don't know. I didn't stop to take attendance."

"What's eating you?" he knew there was something else. She used to get belligerent when something was bothering her, and it looked like things hadn't changed in that respect.

"Sorry. It's bad enough everyone in town knows who I am, but now we have demons among the locals."

"Wait a minute. They know who you are because your family came here every year, right?" Dean set three more bags of salt on the dining table.

"Yeah, the locals know me. And now so do the tourists, the campers, the hikers, every one of them knows."

"How?" Bobby stopped laying the line of salt he'd started along the dining room window.

"There's a picture of me hanging next to the demon's in the damn church!" She kicked a salt bag, her boot punching a hole, salt spilling over the floor.

"What picture?" Sam was busying himself with salting the windows by the front door.

"Some picture he created of me." She saw Bobby's face. "I don't know how he did it, but it's there."

Ignoring the continuing conversation amongst the men, Alyssa continued to lay salt lines along the windowsills, across the threshold of every door, and around the fireplace. She desperately wished for her mother's voice to return to comfort her, keep her mind from picturing the worst that just might happen and guide her.

"Don't line the front door until we get everything out of the cars," Dean instructed Sam.

"Got it," he answered. Sam went to the upstairs rooms to line the windows.

He stepped into Alyssa's room, the large bed catching his eye first. He tried to ignore the thoughts in his head as he poured the salt on the windowsill, but the images of her body with his, the power he'd felt spreading through him as he touched her were overwhelming.

He took a deep breath and walked into the massive bathroom. He lined the small window above the shower and turned to leave but stopped as he saw a black lace bra hanging on the towel rack. He wasn't aware of touching the fabric, feeling the silkiness between his fingers or how his mind reminded him of what he'd felt when she was full of rage and screwing his brother.

"You done up there yet, Sam?" Dean's voice cut through his thoughts. He quickly pulled his hand away from the undergarment and left the bedroom.

"Almost," he answered as he walked to the next room.

Bobby and Dean had decided to draw out a devil's trap on the floor of the living room, just in case something did get in, they could trap it. Furniture was moved around to allow for a large trap to be drawn. They would use the throw rug to cover it when they were done.

Alyssa had finished with the downstairs salting and was helping Bobby with the drawing. What felt like someone's finger traveled along her spine as she drew the symbols on the floor. She stopped and turned to look up towards her old room. Sam was looking down at her, his hands gripping the wooden railing hard enough to turn his knuckles white.

"Alyssa, you done over there?" Dean had finished his symbols and was waiting for her to complete her side.

"Sorry." Her hands trembled slightly as she chalked out the lines that would create the lock.

"What do you think, Sam?" Dean didn't notice the look on Sam's face or the grip he sustained on the railing.

"You sure it's big enough?" He jested, cracking a smile on his face to hide his true thoughts.

"What? You think it should be bigger?" Dean scrutinized the trap, making sure all the symbols were there, comparing it to what was in Bobby's book.

Sam forced a short laugh, but Alyssa heard something more restrained beneath his humorous exterior, something darker, more menacing.

How had he done that? Or had he? She thought maybe she was picking up something else, but she wasn't sure what it could have been. The sensation was still working its way through her, alarming her. She thought back to the flames where she and Sam had been hidden away.

What if I did give him something? Could he be…? She didn't finish the thought. She didn't want to finish it. No answers came to her, only more questions.

Alyssa stood up, placing herself in the center of the devil's trap. She slowly turned around staring at the lines on the floor surrounding her. She could see the symbols whirling through her mind, glowing with power. Her instincts told her to let the power out now.

She stopped spinning and stared directly at Sam. This was a necessary step to ensure the trap remained unbroken, but she didn't want to touch Sam with her gift.

She opened herself to the darkness she knew was on the edge of her mind, commanding it to surround her. In her eyes, Sam, Bobby, and Dean, disappeared into the black void left behind.

"What the hell is she doing?" Dean was upset because they weren't prepared for her to start using her gifts so soon or so close to Sam. "You feel anything?" he looked at his younger brother next to him.

"Not a thing. I don't know how she's doing it, but I don't feel anything." In the back of mind, he felt cheated out of whatever she was doing.

"Guys, quiet." Bobby stood in amazement as Alyssa slowly spun around inside the devil's trap. "Look." He pointed to the chalk lines on the floor.

"What the…?" Dean whispered.

The lines on the floor, drawn in white chalk, began to glow a red-orange, like flames. Alyssa swept her hand over the lines, and as she did, they glowed hot for a moment and then blackened. The devil's trap was burned into the floor, permanent, and empowered.

As Alyssa completed the empowerment, she stopped exactly where she'd begun. Sam was still there, standing next to Dean and Bobby. She'd succeeded in keeping herself contained, leaving him feeling nothing. She had it now, all of it.

Bobby's jaw dropped, unable to process just how powerful his girl had become.

"Bobby," she walked up to him, placing her face under his chin, "are you trying to catch flies?" She pushed his chin up, closing his mouth.

"How did you do that without Sam here going nuts on us?" He managed to speak.

"I'd like to know what the hell you were thinking doing that in the first place without telling us." Dean leaned down and touched the edge of the devil's trap. It was now unbreakable. "And how did you do that?"

"I don't know. It just felt right." Alyssa forced herself to look Dean in the eye, but the fear of the unknown she saw in his eye shattered her spirit. She knew in his mind she was no longer human; she had become something else.

Sam held the same look in his eyes for her, but she also saw the anger behind it, the anger at her for being able to keep him out of reach.

'How did she do that?' Sam thought over and over again. He'd been standing right there, saw the trap glowing with power, and yet, he'd felt nothing. She'd found the way to block him, and he was mildly grateful for that. He didn't want to become what the demon had destined for him, but deep within him, locked away, the fury boiled.

Alyssa and Bobby emptied her car's trunk while Sam and Dean dug through the Impala's.

"So, now what do we do?" Bobby checked to see if Alyssa had been keeping her guns in shape, opening the chamber smelling for gun cleaning oil.

She wasn't in the mood to pick a fight with him over how well she took care of the equipment that helped her save people and herself. She had other things on her mind.

"I don't know. Wait, I guess."

She heard it first, the whine of an old engine coming up the pathway to the cabin.

"You expecting company?" Bobby turned toward the sound.

"No." Alyssa answered.

All four hunters scrambled to gather what gear they needed and ran for the cabin.

"What do we do now?" Sam looked out of the window waiting to see the vehicle come around the trees.

"Everyone at the table, grab a beer, a soda, whatever. Look casual."

Sam and Dean sat down, their guns tucked into the backs of their pants.

Bobby grabbed sodas for everyone and took his place across from the boys, his gun in his lap.

Alyssa checked the floor to make sure the devil's trap was covered by the furniture and throw rug.

She took her soda, popped it open and took a drink. The others followed suit, making sure nothing would look out of place.

The salt lines seemed to pop out against the dark wood of the windowsills, but she already had an excuse for that. Bug killing powder would be the lie.

Alyssa walked to the window, seeing the older white Chevy truck pulling in next to the Impala.

"Who is it?" Dean was calm, trusting they had everything covered.

"It's Hank, from the General Store." She spoke low.

"Was he okay when you went into town?" Sam was more anxious than Dean.

"I don't know. I didn't really pay attention to that until the lady at the church." Alyssa walked to the door, opening it to greet their guest.

"Miss Alyssa. I'm glad to see you're okay." Hank's smile seemed normal.

"Hank, why the visit? And I'm fine." She acted surprised and genuinely pleased by the visit of an old friend.

"Well, you took off in such a hurry, I thought you might be in trouble. Just figured I'd stop in and see if you were okay."

"I'm fine. You want to come in and have a soda. We were just taking a break." She stepped out of the way to let Hank in the cabin.

"We? I didn't know you had guests." He removed his hat as he walked through the door.

"This is my Uncle Bobby, and his sons, Dean and Sam. This is Hank, the owner of the General Store." She made the introductions smooth and flawless.

"Nice to meet you, Hank." Bobby offered his hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet ya'll too." He shook Bobby's hand. "Didn't know Miss Alyssa had any more family than her folks and her brother. How is Zachary, anyway, Miss Alyssa?"

Without missing a beat or giving any indication of the dagger piercing her heart, she answered him, "He's fine. Well as fine as he can be in the hospital."

"Oh, right. Forgot about that. Sorry, Miss Alyssa." Hank twisted his hat a bit, seeming to be nervous.

"Hey, Hank. Could you do me a favor while I get you a soda?"

"Is it about that propane tank? I've been having some calls on them, seem to not want to release the propane."

"No, the propane tank works fine. But the flue on the fireplace is stuck. Could you check it? Uncle Bobby's got a bad back, and I don't want anyone getting hurt trying to get it unstuck." She went into the kitchen to grab a soda.

"Sure, Miss Alyssa. I can do that." Hank walked over to the fireplace, stepping into the devil's trap hidden beneath the throw rug.

"Hey, you know what. Don't worry about it, Hank." Alyssa returned from the kitchen with the bottle in her hand. "I'll just hire someone to come up here and look at it, and get it cleaned as well. Here you go." She held the soda out for him to get, making sure he'd have to step outside the trap to reach her.

"No problem. I hate messin' with those things, anyway." Hank stopped at the edge of the throw rug, unable to move any further.

Alyssa's arm slowly dropped, her eyes narrowed. "What's the matter, Hank? Don't you want the soda?"

Sam, Dean, and Bobby got up from the table, standing next to Alyssa.

"What is this?" The demon was continuing the charade. "Why can't I move?"

Dean moved forward, but Alyssa grabbed his arm. The feeling washing through him wasn't the same, it was warm, but it left a chill behind.

The furniture and throw rug moved of their own accord, with Alyssa's help. The devil's trap glowed briefly, announcing its successful capture.

"What was that?" Bobby stood stunned.

"Um, forgot about that," Dean answered. "Something she picked up along the way."

"Bitch." Hank turned to face her, his eyes black as night.

"Now, now, Hank. That's not very nice. After all these years, that's all you have to say to me?" She moved around the outside of the circle, just out of the demon's reach. "But you're not Hank, so I don't expect much from you."

"You're time is up, witch." The demon grinned.

"You sound jealous," she continued to walk around the devil's trap.

"Why would I be jealous of you?" the demon eye's turned back to Hank's dull brown.

"No matter what I do to you, you can't touch me. Orders, right?" She sauntered up to him, flaunting how close she could get, knowing he could do nothing to her.

Dean quietly observed the exchange between Alyssa and the demon. When she stepped in face-to-face with him, he pulled her back, the heat shooting up his arm into his chest.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he whispered angrily, shaking the feeling from his fingers.

"Playing the game, Dean."

He could tell she was angry. Her eyes were darkening and the air around them was heating up.

"Hang on a minute there, Charlie. Don't go setting the whole place on fire, okay," he pulled her into the kitchen, ignoring the sensations running up and down his arm. "First, shut your mojo down, okay. I don't want Sam going all nutzo on me right now."

"Fine," she calmed herself, seeing in her mind the blackness surrounding her. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks. Bobby, Sam, get in here."

Sam joined them in the kitchen, but Bobby stayed just outside the doorway, keeping an eye on their guest.

"What is it, Dean?" Alyssa was becoming a little impatient. She wanted to get back out there and play with the demon, find out what he knew.

"This was too easy." Dean paced the eight feet of floor from the refrigerator to the stove, rubbing his hand down his face.

"What are you talking about?" Alyssa crossed her arms, thrumming her fingers against her biceps.

"Sam, think. Meg damn near put me through a wall getting her into that trap. And Bobby, Sam wasn't any easier," he looked to the older man for confirmation.

"He's right," came the answer he was looking for. "This is all just too damn easy."

"Almost like it was expected," Sam chimed in.

"But why would the demon willingly walk into a trap?" Alyssa didn't see what they had obviously figured out.

"Maybe he's here to test you, to test your powers," Sam answered her, keeping his voice low.

"To see how you're coming along in your training," Dean finished Sam's thought.

"But if he knows I can kill him, why would he do it willingly?"

Silence was all she heard. No one wanted to say what was on their mind, but she knew and answered for them. "Yellow Eyes sent him. He was ordered to come here."

"So, we have a kamikaze demon in there," Dean left the kitchen.

"Dean, don't," Alyssa went after him, pulling him around to face her. "We can't touch him. Hank is in there somewhere, I think. He has a weak heart, so I don't know if he survived the possession. And I know there's no way he'll make it through an exorcism."

Alyssa placed a chair just inside the trap.

"What's this for?" the demon took the offered seat.

"Sit down and shut up. Hank's old. He needs to sit. I could care less about you though." She backed away from the demon, keeping eye contact with him.

"You're just a softy for the old guys aren't you? And by the looks of it, you like 'em young and old, don't ya?" An evil grin spread across his entire face as he sat down. "You're nothing more than his whore, and the more guys you do, the more he wants you."

Dean's temper flared. He unscrewed the cap from the bottle of holy water he'd pulled from the duffel bag.

"Dean, no!" Alyssa tried to grab his arm, but he pulled away from her, intent on making the demon scream.

"Shut up, you son of a bitch!" Dean doused Hank with holy water and stepped back as he roared, the smoke rising from his clothes.

Alyssa heard Hank's voice behind the demon's screams. He was in there somewhere, but she could do nothing to save him. She backed herself into the corner of the dining room, trying her best to maintain control of her raging emotions. The anger she'd felt in Dean was coursing through her, awakening her own fury.

"Feel it, Alyssa? It's anger, rage, and it feels good, doesn't it?" The demon spoke through the smoke caused by the blessed water.

"I said shut up!" Dean threw more holy water, eliciting more shrieks and smoke from Hank.

Alyssa let Dean's anger and hate in, absorbing it, and allowing it stoke the dormant fires within her. She no longer cared who knew about her; she wanted the world to know, and the demon before her would be the bearer of the bad news.

Bobby was the first to feel the wave of heat wash over him from behind. He looked back to see Alyssa's eyes had darkened once again.

"Dean, stop!" he yelled to the older Winchester.

"Why?" Dean snapped back at Bobby, looking over his shoulder, his eyes revealing exactly what he wanted to do with the demon, but when his glare met Alyssa's, his desire to kill was sucked into the growing pit of fear in his stomach.

"Alyssa, don't do this," Sam reached out to touch her, steeling himself against what he knew he would feel. His hand wrapped around her forearm, his fingers pressing into her skin to bring her attention to him instead of the demon.

She looked down at his hand on her arm and then looked up into the face that belonged with the hand. Her eyes bored into his very soul.

"Thought this was what you wanted, Sam. Don't you want this, all of it?" She pushed through him with the heat and forced him back against the wall behind him, holding him with unseen shackles.

"Dean, how does she have the demon's power?" Sam strained against what he could not see only what he could feel. Deep within him, the need awoke, slowly building itself with the power coursing through him.

"She picked it up back in Arizona," he set the holy water on the table and emptied himself of all the anger and hate he'd been riding moments before. "Alyssa. Let Sam go."

"I'm tired of being afraid, Dean. Tired of being trapped like an animal. If I can destroy them, why am I the one who's hiding?" She released Sam and set her sights on the demon sitting in the middle of the trap.

Sam breathed out as his body fell away from the wall. However, he wasn't completely free yet.

"If you do this, it'll be like sending up a flare for the demon. Do you want that?" He wanted to grab her arms, stop her, shake some sense into her, but he knew what she could do, and being trapped by her was not in his best interest right now.

"It's show time, Dean. Jump on the stage, or sit your ass in the audience. Either way, this is happening my way, not his."

Alyssa stood in front of the demon in Hank's body

"Come on, witch. You know what you have to do to save him. Send me back to hell." The demon stood Hank up to tower over her.

"Sit…down," she ordered him.

The demon had no control and promptly sat on the chair as her power forced him back.

"That's it, whore. Take your best shot."

She ignored his taunting. "I want to speak with Hank."

"Not a chance. You want him, you'll have to get rid of me, first," his eyes blackened as if to emphasize his point.

"We'll see about that." Alyssa commanded the blackness now. It was at her disposal, to do with what she wanted, and what she wanted was to separate the demon from Hank.

The darkness swarmed in like clouds circling in a storm, engulfing the two enemies. Alyssa sent the blackness into Hank's body, pushing the demon to the back of his consciousness, allowing Hank himself to come forward. But the demon wasn't going quietly. It screamed from Hank's throat as Alyssa's power flowed through the human body it thought it owned.

Sam knew where she was; he could see her standing right there in front of the demon, but he knew exactly where she was. He remembered seeing the flames, the darkness, and feeling the power right on the edge of his grasp. She had been ready to give him the power that would once and for all feed the seemingly endless craving that ravaged his body night after night. He would wait for the right moment, because he knew it would come, maybe not now, but soon.

Alyssa knelt before the man in the chair as the demon's screams faded.

"Hank? Can you hear me?"

Dean recognized her voice as the one she had used on Sam back in the motel when he'd had the vision.

"Miss Alyssa? Is that you?" Hank's voice was weak and trembled with fear.

"Yes, Hank. It's me. Are you okay?" She laid her hand on his knee to comfort him.

Dean knew what her touch did to him; washing warmth over every nerve is his body. He wondered if it did the same to Hank.

"What's happening to me, Miss Alyssa?" Hank's brown eyes held fear of the unknown. She had to be careful to not completely freak him out.

"Something bad has gotten into you, Hank. Something that can hurt a lot of people." She worded her explanation carefully.

"Can you get it out? I don't want to hurt nobody."

"Yes, I can get it out. But, Hank, your heart…" She stopped because she couldn't find a positive way to explain he may die during the process.

"I get it, Miss Alyssa. I may not make it." Hank thought for a moment more before he continued. "Do what you need to do. I don't want this thing in me, especially if I might hurt someone. If I don't make it, I know you did your best for me. You've been a good friend, Miss Alyssa. You and your family have always been good friends."

His complete and unwavering belief in her caught her off guard. Tears escaped the grip she thought she had on her emotions as she came to realize she might be the cause of this kind old man's death. Saying goodbye was something she didn't do very well.

"We can wait and see if it leaves on its own. The choice is yours, Hank." She didn't think the idea was a good one, but it beat killing him.

"No. I don't want this in me any longer. I can feel it, and it's very bad. Get it out, now, please." Hank sat taller, defying the fear in his eyes.

"Alright." She placed a kiss on the old man's cheek and stepped back.

Alyssa pulled the darkness tighter around them, shutting out the rest of the world completely. The demon clawed its way back to the conscious level in Hank.

"He'll pay for what you've done, witch."

"But it will hurt you more, you coward," she whispered back to the defiant demon.

There was no anger, no hatred, no more fire burning in her as she felt the peacefulness rush through her. She could hold onto it no longer as it pulsed against her skin, and placing her hands on both sides of Hank's face, she let it all escape from her into his body.

The demon did its best to push back, fighting to keep its hold on the human host, but it couldn't stand against Alyssa's full power.

"I'll take him with me!" the demon growled.

"No, you won't." Alyssa knew the demon would try to take Hank's soul with it, but she knew how to stop him. She didn't know how she knew, she just did.

Hank's head jolted back as his mouth opened, the black cloud pouring from him.

Dean, Sam, and Bobby saw the demon's gaseous form hovering above Alyssa and Hank. They backed up a step or two and watched as the cloud of evil was swallowed by the devil's trap glowing beneath it.

Alyssa was still holding Hank's face in her hands as the demon emptied itself from his broken body.

"Help me." She called to the others as she tried to hold her friend's listless body.

Bobby and Dean rushed to her side, easing Hank to the floor. Dean's skin was alive again with the power he felt around them. Bobby rubbed his arms trying to erase the sensations he too felt.

"Miss Alyssa," Hank's voice was nothing more than a whisper.

"I'm sorry, Hank," she placed her fingers on the side of his neck, feeling for his pulse. It was slow and very weak. 'He wouldn't be here much longer,' she thought.

"That's alright, Miss Alyssa. I'm ready now. Thank you."

Alyssa stayed at his side until his last breath escaped his lips. Bobby helped her up from the floor after the old man had passed. She allowed him to take her into his arms, comforting her. She was seeing what they could not; Hank's spirit waved to her as it disappeared in a flash of light.

"Well, that was fun." Dean placed the chair Hank had been sitting on back in its place at the dining table. "And now the entire demon world knows what you can do."

"We should move his body to his truck. I'll take it to town after this is all over." Alyssa stepped out of Bobby's fatherly embrace.

"What are you going to do? Exorcise the whole damn town?" Dean shot at her.

"If need be. But I'm not just going to stand by and let these people die at the hands of that yellow-eyed bastard. I don't care anymore what he has planned for me. I'm making the rules now." She shot back, her face hardening as her anger rose. She started for the door to head out to Hank's truck.

"What if this is exactly what he wants, Alyssa?" Dean stopped her.

"So I hide here like a coward? Do you think that'll work? Because if you think that's all we have left, then you've given up, Dean." She placed her hand on the doorknob and turned back to look at the three men standing over Hank's body. "I've always taken on the fight, never hidden from it, and I'm not about to start now." She stepped out into the darkening sky.

Dean followed after her; hoping to talk some sense into her, get her to wait until they knew more of the demon's plans. He opened the door and was struck by the smell of sulfur. Alyssa was nowhere to be found. She was gone again, just like at the junkyard.

"Bobby! Sam!" He yelled back at the cabin as he circled around the cars.

Bobby heard Dean's call and ran outside.

"What the hell happened?" He smelled the sulfur in the air. "Demons. They got her again?"

"Looks like." he looked back at the older man on the porch. His brother hadn't come when he'd called him. "Where's Sam?"

"Inside." Bobby walked back into the cabin, looking where he'd seen Sam last, standing over Hank's body. Hank was still there, but Sam wasn't. "Sam!"

"Sam!" Dean's eyes were wide with fear and anger. "Where'd he go?"

"I don't know, Dean. Do you smell the sulfur in here, too?" Bobby headed for the kitchen, hoping to find Sam looking for a drink or something to eat, but he found nothing.

Dean ran for the back deck, but just like Bobby, found nothing, no Sam.

Bobby and Dean ran through the whole cabin, searching for the young Winchester, but met in the middle of the living area, empty-handed and now scared out of their minds.

"The church." They said together as they looked at Hank's body.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Sam opened his eyes not sure of what had happened or where he was, but he knew he was no longer in the cabin. He sat up slowly, checking his surroundings.

Candles lined the walls illuminating the stained-glass windows in a soft glow. The surface beneath him was marble, cold and unforgiving. He swung his feet to the side, seeing he was lying on an altar of some kind.

Across from him on a similar type of altar was Alyssa, still unconscious and dressed in a long white gown. He looked at himself and noticed he was dressed in a tuxedo, tie and shoes included.

The stage was set. The participants were here, dressed in their costumes. All that was left was the final act. The yellow-eyed demon stayed in the shadows, watching as Sam had come around and took in his surroundings. She would be awakening soon, and then the show would begin.

"Alyssa," Sam whispered to her, shaking her shoulder gently. "Alyssa, wake up." He shook her a bit harder.

Alyssa's eyes shot open at the sound of Sam's voice, but she closed them again as she inhaled the sulfur and gagged on the horrid stench. She rolled off the marble altar towards Sam, coughing, trying to find fresh air to breathe.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam held her up as she finally found her breath.

"Yeah. I just can't stand the smell of sulfur. Makes me gag every time." She focused enough to see Sam in front of her. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"I could say the same for you." He pointed at her clothing, smiling mischievously.

Alyssa looked down at herself and realized she was wearing a dress. Alyssa hated dresses almost as much as she did demons. "Don't say a word. Not one word, Sam." She gave him a warning look. Suddenly the recognition that it was the very dress she'd seen in her vision hit her. "Oh, crap."

Sam and Alyssa stood in the center of the church completely alone as if they were the bride and groom of a forgotten wedding.

"Where are Dean and Bobby?" She asked in a hushed whisper.

"I don't think they're here. Probably still back at the cabin wondering where we went," he whispered back.

"Guess they couldn't spring for some decent shoes, huh?" She showed Sam her bare feet.

"Guess not," he chuckled. All humor left his face. "Is this what you wanted? The showdown?"

"Not exactly as I wanted it, because I certainly wouldn't have picked this out of the closet." She slapped the dress, emphasizing her disdain for the clothing.

"Picky, picky." The strange voice came from the church foyer. "Women are so fickle, wouldn't you agree, Sam?"

His yellow-eyes laughed at his own joke. He wore a tuxedo that matched Sam's, but it did nothing to improve his appearance in the hunters' eyes.

Sam could feel the first sparks of Alyssa's anger crawling across his skin. "Alyssa, take it easy."

"Sorry," she whispered and settled her emotions, not wanting to play into the demon's game. This was her show, not his.

"Alyssa, my dear. Why so melancholy? You look absolutely ravishing." He strode up the aisle as if he were in a musical show. His feet seemed to barely touch the ground. "She looks good enough to eat, doesn't she Sam? And my boy, you look handsome. The perfect couple."

"Let me guess. You couldn't get a minister, so you're going to perform the ceremony yourself, right? Seems a bit out of your league, don't you think?" Alyssa taunted the demon.

"You think I'm going to marry you two? Is that what you think this is?" He laughed heartily, his hysterics echoing off the walls. "You don't get it do you? And I thought you two were the smartest out of the bunch." He stepped up the few steps to stand before the Alyssa and Sam. "This isn't a wedding, Alyssa. Think about it. What have I been wanting you to do?"

Alyssa ran through her memories of the vision, the picture she'd drawn, the way her power touched Sam, until she saw the whole picture. Her eyes widened as she figured it all out.

"I see we have a winner." The demon smirked.

"Sam, this isn't a church." She turned to face the young man.

"What?"

"Look around. Do you see anything religious here? Any crosses, crucifixes, any Saints or angels?"

Sam looked around and realized she was right. There was nothing in this building that would signify this was a church, but he didn't grasp the meaning of it all.

"Okay. So what does it mean that we're not in a church?"

"Think of the picture. Think of your vision, my vision. It's not a wedding, Sam." She waited to see if he would come up with it himself, but he still seemed lost. "It's your awakening."

"Awakening? What is that?" Sam hadn't heard of an awakening before.

"An awakening is different in different cultures. Some are rituals that bring a person into the collective of a religious path, like a baptism or a christening. And then there are some rituals that not only awaken the sub consciousness but also the God or Goddess within." She didn't know how to continue, because she could see it all playing out in her mind, a re-run of the vision she and Sam had shared.

"This is my awakening. So, he wants you to awaken something in me?" Sam's heart seemed to drop into the pit of his stomach. "And just how does this particular one work?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you? Don't you remember anything we've _almost_ done?"

She could see his mind working through their close calls.

"And blood. The ritual requires blood."

"Whose?"

"Doesn't matter. But it would be more powerful if it were mine."

Sam remembered seeing the blood spilling down her neck in his vision and knew it was her blood that was needed.

"You have yet to disappoint me, Alyssa." The demon approached her, touching her face gently.

Alyssa jerked her skin from his loathsome touch. "Well, there's always a first time."

"But it won't be this time." The demon faced the double doors and waved his hands. "Let the ceremony begin!" The doors opened to reveal a mass of faces, some old, some young, some Alyssa didn't know, and some she did. All of them were possessed; their black soulless eyes stared into her as they walked through the doors.

The demonic horde filed in and made themselves comfortable in the cushioned pews.

"Can you exorcise all of them?" Sam whispered in her ear.

"I doubt it, at least not all at once." She whispered back.

Alyssa stared at the faces she had come to know over the years and at those she knew were just tourists who had come to see the abundant wildlife in the mountains.

Her heart broke for those who were old and weak. They most likely wouldn't survive the process required for ridding their bodies of the evil that had taken up residence.

"You want to save these people, don't you?" The yellow-eyed demon made his way around the pews, standing in the center aisle once again. "Well, come on. Give it your best shot."

Everything in her was telling her to help free these people, to send the demons back to hell, but she knew if she did anything to, she'd be condemning Sam to the destiny they all fought to deny.

"Well, it seems our guests of honor have had a change of heart." The yellow-eyed demon announced to his captive audience. The demonic laughter burned through her, her own guilt surfacing.

"There it is." He turned to face her, pointing at her. "That's what I've been waiting for. You failed all those men, Alyssa. You failed your brother. You failed your mother and father, and now you've failed them." His arm swept around, indicating the congregation.

"Don't listen to him, Alyssa. He's trying to get to you." Sam's voice was strong and empowering.

"I did fail them. But I won't fail now. And that is all that matters." Alyssa stood tall. Sam's strength had helped her find her own. She had promised Dean, and she would not fail him.

"Are you so sure you won't fail him?" The demon had read her mind. He crooked his fingers in the air to no one in particular, and what came through the doors next sent chills down her spine.

Bobby stumbled through the doors as if he'd been pushed. Dean followed quickly behind, almost losing his own footing.

Bobby was sporting a blackening eye and a bloody lip. Dean looked as if his mouth had done most of the work to afford the beating he had received. His lip too, was busted and bleeding, but the side of his face appeared as if he'd been run into a brick wall over and over again.

"Easy, Alyssa. I've seen Dean worse than this. He's fine, okay?" Sam spoke low to her, hoping to lend her his own confidence in his brother, even though he too worried about him.

"I feel a little under dressed. How about you, Bobby?" Dean felt the worry lift a little from his shoulders as he saw that Sam was still Sam. He stared at Alyssa in the dress and thought about how he'd like to see what was under it.

She narrowed her eyes as she caught the thought that crossed his mind; so evident in the look he gave her. She shook her head slightly, knowing he'd given her a sign that he was fine. She needn't worry about him, just focus on what was at hand.

"Forgot to get my tuxedo pressed. Have to put that on the to-do list for later." Bobby smarted back.

He'd never seen Alyssa in a dress. She'd forgone the whole prom thing because it required a dress and a date. She'd pretty much beaten up all the date possibilities and wearing a dress was completely out of the question.

Seeing her in a wedding dress, like this, however, broke his heart. His girl looked beautiful, and he'd hoped someday to walk her down an aisle like this one to hand her to a man who had proven without a doubt that he deserved her. He quickly stymied the thoughts to keep Alyssa focused on the demon and not him.

Alyssa hadn't caught the sadness in Bobby's eyes, only the anger he held for the demon.

"Looks like the gang's all here. Time for the party to get under way, right Alyssa?"

"Go to hell." She kept her anger in check, not wanting to let it out for fear of touching Sam.

"Been there. Got the t-shirt, too. But speaking of hell. I think you owe me one, don't you?" the demon walked behind Dean and Bobby, pushing each man to his knees. "Choose."

"Choose what?" Alyssa's heart was racing. She knew what was coming, but she didn't know how to stop it.

"Choose who will go first. You owe me for what you did to my daughter. If you choose, it will be quick and painless. If I choose, it will be slow and agonizing." He moved behind Bobby. "Will it be this one?" He sidestepped behind Dean. "Or this one? Of course, Dean would be my first choice, because I've already had a taste of him."

Dean's thoughts flashed back to when the demon had taken his father and had almost killed him. He certainly didn't want to experience that again.

"Choose, Alyssa!"

Sam stepped up next to her. "You can't let him do this to Dean. He almost killed him last time."

"I know, Sam. But, I promised him that I would protect you."

"Stop him and we can protect them together." Sam could feel the first twinges of her power growing inside her. The need awoke in him once again, waiting for more. He was thinking that if he had the same power he'd felt before, he could help her fight off the demon and save the people before them.

A low feeling in her gut began to spread through her body. Something in her was warning her not to take the next step. Sam wanted her, she knew that, but now he seemed to want the power more than he was saying. She could stop the demon, all of the demons, but if she used her full powers, she would place Sam in the yellow-eyed demon's grasp. She could handle what was coming, but Sam was too naïve, too unpracticed to know what to do with all he could have. He may have a heart of gold, but beneath it all raged the fury that could feed the evil within him forever.

"Choose, Alyssa! Choose now!" The demon demanded.

"Don't listen to him, Alyssa!" Dean yelled at her, getting her attention back to him. His outburst earned him a fist to his face from a very large man sitting in the pew next to him. "Son of a bitch," he groaned as he got back up from the floor.

Alyssa couldn't decide what to do. She begged the voice, her mother's voice, to return and guide her, but there was no answer. What she had expected to be a showdown between her and the demon had become a nightmare as she now held a life in her hands. She had to choose who would live and who would die.

Sam couldn't take it any longer. He needed to get Alyssa moving on this to save Dean and Bobby and to give him what he wanted. He could help. He knew he could resist the demon's influence long enough to save everyone.

"Sam! No!" Dean screamed at his brother.

Sam's anger rushed through her, igniting everything within her.

"Good boy, Sam." The demon left the two hunters in the center of the aisle and stepped up to his prize. "Feel it. It's intoxicating isn't it, Alyssa? All that power rushing through you. Take her, Sam. She's ready for you." He backed off to let the awakening begin.

Sam pulled her around to him, gripping her arms tighter. This was his time. The need was clawing at him, knowing she was right there and the power was his. He pulled her closer, feeling her body molding to his.

"Sam! Don't!" Dean couldn't move to stop his brother. The demons surrounding them were a threat to his and Bobby's physical well being. He could do nothing but watch the nightmare happen in front of him.

Sam's eyes darkened as he pulled her closer to his hard body. She swallowed the fury he fed her, breathing the heated air between them. The rising waves of power crashed against her skin. Her mind was lost to the flames as she rode Sam's rage.

Dean kept his eyes on his brother and Alyssa and leaned over to Bobby, "Are we just going to sit here and watch this?"

"Exactly what do you have planned?" Bobby questioned back.

"I'm working on it." Dean bluffed.

"Dean, take a look around," Bobby's eyes scanned the walls.

"What am I looking for?"

"What do you not see here?"

Dean took a moment and looked around a little harder this time. "Not following."

"This is supposed to be a church, right? So, what's missing here?"

Dean searched the walls for any sign that this building was deemed a church, but he couldn't find any religious symbols.

"So what does it mean?"

"Not sure. But I do know it means those two are a big part of whatever this is." He gestured towards Alyssa and Sam.

A young, blonde woman leaned over to Bobby, smiling, "It's an awakening."

Bobby's eyes narrowed with concern.

"What is an awakening?" Dean had a feeling in his gut he wouldn't like the answer.

"Well, for the most part it's bringing a person over to the collective fold of a religious path. Kind of like a baptism or christening and the whole water thing."

"But this one is run by demons. They're planning on awakening the demon in Sam, aren't they?"

"Yeah, looks like."

"How is that going to happen?" There was an edge of panic in his question.

"Fire, flesh, and blood." The young blonde's blue eyes swarmed with the demon in her.

Dean remembered seeing the trail of blood on Alyssa's neck during the last practice round they'd staged. He knew of the flesh part personally, and the fire was currently raging between her and his brother.

"This is your destiny, Alyssa. You can no longer deny your birthright. Give it all to Sam, and the pain will stop, releasing the pleasure of true power," the yellow-eyed demon watched apprehensively, waiting for the moment they were both his.

Alyssa's skin felt as it were stretching, the pain driving her further into the flames in her mind. She could feel Sam's fingers weaving their way into her hair, pulling her head back to meet his eyes again.

"Let me help, Alyssa. Please. Let me take some of it so it doesn't hurt so bad," he appealed to her need to end the ache in her heart and soul. He leaned in, his lips just touching hers. "Let me help." Sam kissed her gently at first, wanting her to open up to him of her own free will.

She heard his words through the firestorm raging across her mind, but his touch took her further. She kissed Sam wanting him deeper, becoming more enraged by the anger she was drawing from him.

In her mind, she saw the pain he had carried for so long. Images of his father, a blond woman dying in a fire, another woman crying as he killed her, and yet another he was kissing and leaving behind. All the pain and anguish Sam had suffered over the last two years was flooding her mind, her heart, and feeding her own agony.

"Bobby, I can't just sit here and do nothing," Dean spoke to his older friend.

"What's the plan then?" He could only imagine how it was eating at Dean to watch the spectacle before them.

Dean reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out the bottle of holy water.

Bobby nodded his head in agreement and pulled out his own bottle of the blessed water.

Sam dug his fingers into her back, pressing her closer to him. He felt her response not only in her body moving against his, but also in the air around them. The air shimmered with the power pulsing from her. He could see Alyssa waiting for him in the flames, her body glistening in the heat of their minds.

She'd brought Sam in again. She now knew where they were. It was the jumping off point for her dream walking. It was the darkness, the void she had to cross to find her intended target. Once she passed through the void, she could step into the dreams of those she wanted to find. It was here where she had brought Sam before, here where she'd seen her mother for the last time, and here where she held the future in her hands.

Sam found her and wasted no time in fueling the growing blaze. He was more than ready now, and there was no one to stop him this time. He felt no guilt in taking her immediately, for he knew she liked it brutal. Anger made her stronger, but pain made her let it all go, so he gave her both. The need in him grew stronger, more violent; it had found what it had been searching for in Alyssa. The more pain he could give her, the higher she went, and the power would finally be his. She was ready now; he could feel the flames licking his skin, the power just beyond the inferno burning around them.

Dean couldn't wait any longer. He had to get up there and stop them. Alyssa had promised to keep Sam safe, but right now, she didn't look like she could do anything to help them. He checked the surrounding demons to make sure they weren't watching him, and it seemed they were all well engrossed in the make-out scene on the altar.

Alyssa screamed as she released it all, just as she had done with Dean, but this time, the power found its home in Sam.

Dean heard Alyssa and knew it was now or never. He and Bobby threw the holy water on the people sitting closest to them and ran for the altar. The growls and screams of the burning demons drowned out Alyssa's screams momentarily.

Dean ran towards Sam, intending on pulling him away from Alyssa. However, his plan to intervene was rudely interrupted by the one person he wanted to save.

Sam saw his brother coming at him. The power was now coursing through him, awakening him to all he could be. Dean no longer stood in his way.

The look in his brother's eyes stopped him in his tracks. His eyes were darker than he'd ever seen them before; almost as black as when he'd been possessed. Dean felt himself leave the ground and land against something hard enough to send stars through his vision almost knocking him unconscious.

"Bad boy, Dean. This one's mine." He sneered at his brother as he held Alyssa close to him.

Bobby didn't get the chance to grab Alyssa from Sam's embrace before he, too, was slammed against the wall unable to move.

"Alyssa," Sam spoke in her ear, "Dean's trying to take you away from me. You know we belong together. You have to tell him you belong to me now."

The power raged within her, and she liked it. This was her destiny, and no one would take it from her.

She stepped away from Sam, seeing Dean holding his head, blood running down his face. He wanted to take Sam from her, but she couldn't allow that. He was hers now. She pushed her power against Dean, holding him to the wall.

"What a family, huh?" The yellow-eyed demon announced to the demonic congregation. The cacophony of laughter that followed filled the building. The demon stepped in between Sam and Alyssa, hooking an arm around each of them, an evil, malicious grin spread across his face. "One big happy family."

"Dean," Bobby struggled against the pressure imprisoning him, "talk to her."

"What?" He couldn't think past the throbbing pain in his head.

"Talk to her. You know how she feels about you. Work with that."

"Yes, Dean. Talk to her about how you feel." The demon joined in the conversation. "Tell her you love her, Dean. Tell her how she's changed you from the womanizer you were to the one-woman man you are now." He was teasing him. "C'mon, Dean. Tell her how you'll never look at another woman again if only she'd come back to you."

"I'd like to hear that too, Dean." Sam smiled at his brother. "All those women you bedded on our hunts. Would you give all that up just for her?"

"Shut up, Sam." Dean turned his attention to the demon.

"Now, now, boys. Let's not fight. After all, we're family now." The demon pulled Alyssa closer to him, letting go of Sam. "Remember what I showed you, Alyssa?"

Alyssa thought back to the vision the demon had showed her. "Yes."

"This is the birth of a new world, Alyssa. You are its creator."

"But you didn't give her what you promised. You can't give it to her." Dean hoped his words were getting through to her.

His words tore through her heart, tears stinging the edges of her eyes.

'Why would he say such things?' She thought to herself. For his insolence, she repaid Dean with pushing him up the wall, holding him above the floor.

Bobby could do nothing to help the older Winchester above him. He couldn't think of what to say to Alyssa that would ease the pain she was suffering.

The demon laughed in Alyssa's ear as he felt her power escalating. "You're right, Dean. I couldn't have kept that promise. I lied, as is my nature. But, I didn't show her what she could have. I showed her what she would have. You see, Dean, you did all the work for me." The demon moved behind Alyssa, leaning into the side of her face, his hand spreading across her abdomen. "But don't worry, I'll raise him like he's my own."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

"You lying son of a bitch," Dean growled out as he felt the pressure increasing on his throat.

"Nope. Not this time." He leaned into Alyssa's ear, "Alyssa. Take a look for yourself. Hear it?"

Alyssa didn't quite grasp what the demon and Dean were discussing. All she knew was the swelling and ebbing of the shifts of power within her. Sam's power was still tied to hers, feeding her and feeding from her.

She tightened her grip on Dean wanting him to hurt as she did. Even as she felt more power surging through her veins, she needed to know the truth of what the two men were speaking.

Could she be with child? Was he speaking the truth? Demons don't speak the truth unless they can use it against a person. If she were with child, what did it mean for her? Unable to think beyond the simple questions, Alyssa returned to the task at hand.

She quieted everything in her mind, the darkness swelled around her again, easing the flames but not extinguishing them, the blanket of peace washing over her. She stood on the edge of the void once again, alone.

There in the darkness, beyond the depths of her power, lay the proof. A heartbeat, faster than her own, the beat of another life growing inside her. She wanted to touch this new life, this soul with which she'd been entrusted, but she dared not in her current state. She was feeding the hatred and despair around her with her own, on the verge of becoming what the demon showed her she could be, the mother of a whole new world, a world of demons.

"You know it's true, don't you? You see it wasn't my doing that brought about this miracle. You did it, Alyssa. You and Dean," he chuckled deep in his throat.

"But how?" Bobby wondered aloud.

"It was a bargaining chip from the other side. If she'd known about the kid sooner, she'd have gone all goodie-two shoes on me. I had to keep her distracted, keep her too busy to notice the changes in her body. And the promise of pure power can be very persuasive."

She let the inferno consume her once again, determined to fight what stood before her, but no longer seeing which one was the greater enemy. She now had all the power she could have; her own angst was feeding the fires in her mind, giving her control of everything. But now there was someone else in this story, another life that had no voice of its own.

The child within her belonged to the man whose life she held in her hands. He had given this gift to her; given her the one dream she believed would never come true. She owed him everything she was and would be. She owed him her promise.

The demon's eyes blazed a deeper hue of yellow. "Now, she's all mine. The last step, Alyssa, is the blood that must be spilled."

"Whose blood must it be?" She asked shakily, frightened it would be Dean's blood the demon demanded.

"You get to choose this time." He stepped away from her.

Alyssa could sense the power in Sam, the connection between them bridged in flames. Her promise to keep him safe had been forgotten, lost to what she had awakened within Sam and herself.

Alyssa stared hard into Dean's eyes, the twin pools of green that drowned her time and time again, making her choice.

She lowered him to the ground, releasing him enough to end the crushing pain he felt in his throat, and standing him next to Bobby.

"You okay, kid?"

"Yeah, I think." Dean was relieved to feel the floor beneath his feet, but unsure of what was to happen next.

He saw the confusion and uncertainty in Alyssa's gaze. She was searching for a way out of this, keeping her promise to him. Dean nodded his head just enough to let her know he understood and had forgiven her.

She released Dean completely and severed the hold Sam had on Bobby. The power of her lineage was hers now. Don't fail, her mother had said. This time, she would not fail.

Sam became confused as his grip on Bobby slipped away. 'How?' He thought.

He tried again to push his newfound powers at the older man, but there was nothing. She was taking it all back, like she'd done before. But this time, he was going to fight her for it. This time he was strong enough.

The demon watched as Alyssa let Dean and the old man go, not sure if he would come out of this the victor. A smile cracked across his face as he caught the heated look on the younger Winchester's face. A battle was about to begin, and he was going to claim the winner as his right hand.

Alyssa's hand touched the blood on Dean's face, "I'm sorry," she whispered to him.

"Can you bring Sam back?" He held her hand, seeing his blood on her fingers.

"Yes." She felt the warmth running down her neck, trailing its way down her breasts.

"What the…?" Dean moved her hair and saw the scars on her neck opened and bleeding.

"Sam," she stammered. The pain was growing as he was trying to cut deeper into her. She turned to face him, knowing he was not going to give up the power without a battle of his own.

"Sam, what you are doing to her?" Dean yelled at his brother.

"Stay out of this, brother," he spoke the last word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "She gave this to me, and she belongs to me. But as usual, you always get the girl, don't you?"

"Sam, don't do this. Stop. Please, for me." Dean tried to put pressure on Alyssa's neck, doing what he could to stop the blood flow.

Sam pulled her free of Dean's hand with his mind, bringing her to his embrace. He wasn't going to let her go so easily this time.

Dean stood stunned, as Sam had moved Alyssa across the floor out of his grasp.

"I've tasted you, Alyssa. I've felt your skin against mine. We're supposed to be together. Not you and Dean. He doesn't know what to do with you."

"I'm not some toy you get to share, Sam. What you felt was spectral, not real. I belong to no one." Alyssa summoned the blackness, commanding it to storm across her mind.

"Not this time." Sam fought against her, pushing the darkness back, the wall of flames growing stronger.

The winds rushed through the church that wasn't a church, extinguishing the candle flames. The demonic congregation stirred, unsure of what was happening.

Alyssa wasn't giving up. She'd promised Dean to protect Sam, to help save him, and she wasn't breaking that promise, even if it took her final breath.

The darkness once again obeyed her command, this time enveloping just her, swallowing her alone. All of her fears, her anger, and her pain were gone. The guilt of losing her family no longer controlled her. She was truly free.

Sam wanted her angry, wanted the fires burning again, needed her to hate, and needed her in pain. He pressed harder with his new gifts, breaking more of her skin.

Fresh blood poured from Alyssa's aged wounds. She trembled in his arms, the agony so very evident in her eyes.

Dean saw more blood running down the back of her white dress, recalling his own encounter with his life pouring from his skin. If she didn't finish soon, she would be dead from the blood loss alone.

The pain was there, but it wasn't the same as the emotional torture she'd carried for so long. She could fight the physical pain, but she knew her time was almost up. She had to keep her promise to Dean before she passed on; it would be her last gift to him.

She looked into Sam's eyes, seeing the hellfire burning behind his glare, and called to the power of her ancestors. The cold rushed through the air as her mother's line answered her plea.

Dean and Bobby shivered as the temperature around them plummeted. His skin was alive again with the electric flow, and he knew Alyssa was now in complete control of everything. What that meant to him and his brother's destiny, he couldn't figure out. He could only wait and hope she could save his little brother.

Sam held her as her blood flowed over his hands, watching her fight the pain he inflicted upon her. She was strong, that was for sure, but he believed himself to be stronger. He wanted to drown her in the fires, force her to beg him for mercy.

He felt alive with his newfound gifts. He could take on the world and defeat all who stood before him, good and evil alike. She had so much more to give him, more power, more of who she was. He only had to make her give it to him.

Alyssa knew her time had come, her body was charged, like a cloud ready to release the built up energy into a lightning bolt sent to scorch the earth.

Dean saw her eyes turn the opalescent white he'd seen at the cabin and felt the bitter cold blow across him. What followed he could only believe was a shockwave as it felt like one. He had seen the very air around them contract and expand as the pure essence of her power escaped her.

The screams of the demons reached decibels man alone could not achieve. They were being exorcised simultaneously, the black clouds disintegrating as they fled their human hosts.

Alyssa could no longer see the church, see Sam before her, feel his hands holding her, or hear the screams of the demons.

She was standing on the edge of another plane, somewhere she'd never been before. The air was warm, the seemingly endless sky was blue, and the grass beneath her feet was the greenest she'd ever seen.

Sam almost dropped her when her power hit him square in his chest. The cold burned through him, eating away the flames and destroying the need within him.

He still fought to maintain some control, but the blackness was too strong, her powers were far beyond what he could have even imagined. She set him free from the torment he'd been suffering; the demonic influence was now dead.

"Dean, help me!" He called for his brother, slowly lowering Alyssa onto the marble altar nearest to him.

Dean heard his little brother call for him, and he responded without a second thought. She'd done it. She'd saved Sam, keeping her promise.

"What did I do, Dean? Where's this blood coming from?" Sam held his hands in front of his face.

"Sam, stay with us. We need you to help her." Bobby was searching Alyssa for the wounds to stop the bleeding.

"Alyssa!" Dean called to her. "Alyssa, wake up!"

Alyssa walked through the ocean of green as the wind caressed the grass. She heard her name being called, like a whisper on the wind. She turned towards where the sound seemed to be coming from.

An old gnarled tree sat alone on a hill, surrounded by the green grass. Its leaves waved at her and reached for the sunlight that seemed to come from everywhere. Standing beneath the tree was a figure, her long brown hair blowing in the breeze, her simple white dress flowing around her.

"Mom?" Alyssa walked cautiously towards the woman she thought to be her mother. As she drew ever closer, her mother's face came into view; her eyes, her smile, her welcoming arms greeted her. "Mom!" Alyssa ran into her mother's arms, unable to stop the tears from flowing freely now.

Tears were streaming down the young woman's face, her blank stare sending the multitude of people milling around them into a panic. A local doctor did his best to help the three strangers stop the life from seeping out of her body.

"Alyssa!" Dean continued to call to her, not giving up on her. She couldn't leave him now, not like this. She'd kept her promise, but she didn't say anything about dying to keep it. He wasn't about to let her go now.

"Mom, where are we?" She spoke against her mother's shoulder, relishing the comfort of having her arms around her again. She slipped back in time to when she was young, when her mother would hold her in a loving embrace just before bedtime.

"Alyssa, you have to make a choice."

"What choice?" she looked into her mother's eyes. "What must I choose?"

"To go with me or to stay and fight."

"I'm dying? Is that where we are? On the edge of the Summerlands?" Alyssa stepped out of her mother's warm embrace to look around her, but with more attention to the details.

The grasses went on forever paralleled by the endless blue of the sky, broken only by the sporadic placement of trees.

"Yes. You can choose to stay here, with us, your family. Or you can return and continue to fight the battles you've endured your whole life."

"You make it sound as if my life was cursed." But the offer was so tempting. She'd be with her family once again. There would be no more death, no more horrors, and no more bloodshed. The choice would be simple to make. She had but to take her mother's hand, walk with her, and never look back.

She heard other voices calling her name. They were more frantic and louder. She recognized one of the voices as that of Dean. Her hands went to her lower belly, hearing the heart beat inside her.

"Mom, I can't go. What about…." She couldn't say the word. It just wouldn't cross her lips.

Her mother's brown eyes were soft and caring. "You would both be here, together with us. Your child goes with you, Alyssa. If you die, your child dies. If you live, your child lives."

"Mom, I don't understand. I was the last. How could this…." She looked at herself, again unable to complete the sentence for fear of bursting the bubble of her dream come true.

"Your son is a gift, Alyssa. Something even I don't understand. But I do know that if you choose to bring your child into the world, there will be a price to pay."

"Just getting up in the morning used to cost so much. I'm almost afraid to ask what the price would be." She could still hear the panicked voices calling to her.

"I cannot tell you that because I don't know. There is one more thing, Alyssa. You are no longer the last of our line. You no longer hold the power of your ancestors. You will return with the gifts you were born with and nothing more. Or.."

"Or what?" Alyssa questioned her mother.

"Or you could choose to let your child come with me until he can return, and you would hold all that you've learned to do."

For so many years, she had stared at mothers holding and cooing at their babies or running around playing with their children on playgrounds. It had torn at her heart to know that she'd never experience the joy of motherhood. And now that it was happening to her, she could give up that dream to keep the ancestral gifts handed to her and the powers she'd picked up from others. She'd have the power to destroy the yellow-eyed demon and the multitude of other monsters out there.

She thought of what it meant to give up all her power. She would be just as vulnerable as she had been before this whole mess started, but Sam would be safe from her, Dean would not have to make that awful choice she had to make, and Bobby would just be happy to have her around.

She realized then, that her world revolved around the three men in her life. What they wanted mattered to her. They would want her to continue fighting, for her life and others, even if it meant giving up ultimate power.

"Mom, I have to go back. I love you, and dad, and Zach, but they…." She stopped, searching for the right words. "Bobby, Dean, and Sam are my family now. They need me, need us." She held herself indicating her unborn child. "I choose to keep my child and return the powers to our ancestors." Tears fell, seeing the love in her mother's eyes.

She gave her mother one last hug, accepting her kiss on her forehead, and stepped from beneath the tree. She closed her eyes and fell backwards towards the grass.

Dean held her, keeping the pressure on her wounds, doing his best to slow the blood flow. His attention was on the stark contrast of the red against the white dress. She'd lost so much he wasn't sure if she'd make it.

'Don't you leave me, Alyssa,' he screamed at her in his mind, 'don't leave me like this!'

Bobby drove the Impala as Sam followed the doctor's instructions to the nearest hospital.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Oh, God," Dean wiped the sweat from her brow, the warmth slowly washed over him. "Alyssa, you're going to be okay. Just hang on."

"She's alive?" Sam nearly jumped from the front seat to the back. "Hey, we're on our way to the hospital. Hang on, okay?"

"Don't worry," she smiled. "I'm not going anywhere for a while."

"Sticking around to make my life miserable, huh?" Dean joked with her, hiding the fear he still held in his heart.

"You bet. You're not getting off that easy." His short chuckle warmed her. She let him hold her, his arms just as comforting as her mother's had been, if not more.

The hospital was a mass of hysteria as Alyssa was wheeled in. The local physician had forewarned the doctors and nurses of their imminent arrival, and six people had been waiting for the Impala to pull in.

"Stay here a minute, okay?" Bobby left Sam and Dean in the lobby and headed back with the doctors wheeling Alyssa down the hallway.

"Dean, I didn't…." Sam stammered with the words that wanted to come.

"I know, Sam. None of us did." He knew what his brother was trying to tell him, but right now, he didn't want to hear apologies or explanations. He wanted to hear Alyssa would survive and whether or not it was true. The demon's words ran through his mind again. All demons lie, unless it hurts more to tell the truth.

Bobby returned, his face blatantly expressing his concern for Alyssa.

"Did you tell them she could be…?" Dean didn't know how to finish the question.

"Yeah. They said they'd confirm it after they run some other tests on her. We'll know for sure soon."

The three men could only sit in the hallway waiting to hear news, any news, of what was going on with the woman they'd all come to care about and deeply respect. The minutes ticked away, leading to hours before they heard anything.

The doctor in charge of her care delivered the news that her wounds were closed, the blood loss was significant, but she looked good. She would pull through just fine, and the test was positive.

Under doctor's orders, the three men were allowed to visit with Alyssa for a short time.

"You guys look like crap," she grinned at the three handsome faces surrounding her bed.

"You look like hell, too," Sam smarted back with his own grin on his face.

"Doesn't matter how you look. It's just good to see you alive," Bobby squeezed her hand.

"It's good to be alive," she saw the love for her in his eyes. She noticed Dean was hiding his emotions again, his unanswered questions passing across his face. "Could you and Sam please excuse us?"

"Sure, kiddo," Bobby laid a light kiss on her forehead. "C'mon Sam." He ushered the young man out of the room.

"Well, that was discreet." Dean sat in the chair next to her bed.

"Wasn't trying to be. Not very talkative tonight, huh?" She shifted herself trying to find a comfortable position.

"Here." Dean got up and adjusted her pillow until she was happy with it.

"Thanks. Stitches are pulling." She winced a bit with the pain. She'd refused the doctor's efforts to administer any pain medications, not wanting to jeopardize the fragile life growing within her.

"What happened back there? I mean I know what you did, but at the end, you were gone."

"I was gone. I was with my mother." She started tearing up again, remembering her mother's arms around her. "She told me I could go with her, be with my family."

"Did you want to?" He knew how much he wanted to see his mother and father again.

"Yes. I did." She forced the tears away. He didn't need to see her crying right now.

"Why didn't you?"

She chuckled. "Other than the obvious? Like wanting to live?" She paused, not sure of what to tell him. She decided to keep most of it hidden, for now. "They were my family, Dean, but you guys are my family now. I've grown used to having you three around." She smiled.

Dean let her talk, not sure if he should say anything, and not sure of how to feel about being considered family to anyone other than Sam.

"I need to be here, fighting. I know my job's not done, at least not yet. And besides, it's not about me now."

"About that. How?"

She gave him a sly look and a smile.

"I know how, but I mean…"

"I know what you mean. I don't know, Dean. I really don't know how to explain it."

An older male nurse poked his head into the room and let Dean know that visiting hours were over. He could come back tomorrow.

Dean rose from the chair and headed towards the door. He looked back at her lying on the bed, "Thanks for sticking around, Alyssa."

"Someone has to keep you two in line." She watched him smile and walk out the door.

"I don't care what the doc says. I'm sick of being here." Alyssa threw the blanket off her legs and swung around to place her feet on the cold floor. Her head spun a bit, prompting the nurse to help steady her. "I'm fine. Let go." She slapped the young woman's hands away from her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bobby had stepped through the opened door as the disgruntled nurse had made a hasty exit, mumbling about the stubborn woman she was supposed to take care of.

"I'm leaving. Where are my clothes?" She made her way to the bathroom, holding the back of the hospital gown closed.

"The nurse says she's trying to leave," Sam entered the room, followed by Dean.

"Yeah, she is. She's in there getting dressed." Bobby sat down in a chair to wait for Alyssa. She was going to need a ride.

"We're not going to stop her? She's only been here for three days." Sam seemed shocked that Dean wasn't protesting against Alyssa's hospital escape attempt.

"She's wanting to leave. I would too. Have you tasted the food in these places?" Dean shuddered at the memories of his own hospital stays and having to endure the tasteless meals.

Alyssa emerged from the bathroom dressed in her dark blue t-shirt, black jeans, and her black hiking boots. Her long hair was tied back in a ponytail, revealing the large white gauze pad taped across her neck. She was a warrior once again.

"Feels so good to have regular clothes on," she spoke to no one in particular. "You guys ready to get out of here?" She grabbed her jean jacket, slinging it over her shoulder.

"Hang on there, Alyssa." Bobby gently grabbed her arm. "What did the doc say?"

"I'm fine. The stitches will need to come out in a week or so, and one of you guys can do that, right?" She looked from man to man to man.

"But what about…?" Bobby jerked his head towards her body.

"It's a baby, guys. Say it…baby. It's not some disease I'm carrying around, okay?" Her eyes flared in anger.

Dean noticed the air in the room didn't change as she became infuriated. He waited for the temperature in the room to rise, but nothing happened.

"You need to take it easy, Alyssa. That's all. I'm just concerned…" Bobby felt hurt at her snapping at him.

"I'm sorry. I know you're worried. Just don't treat me differently okay? I couldn't handle that right now." Alyssa saw the looks in their eyes, and it made her feel as if she were a glass doll that would crack at the slightest movement.

"Alyssa Singer?" the male voice startled her out of the conversation that had yet to happen.

"Yes," she answered.

"Since you're leaving against doctor's orders, you have to sign these papers." He handed her a clipboard and a pen.

"Fine." She signed the papers and handed them back to the male nurse. "You guys ready?"

The three men followed Alyssa out of the hospital, not even bothering to try and change her mind.

"Did you guys take care of Hank?" Alyssa spoke softly from the backseat.

Bobby took her hand, holding it tightly, "Yeah, we did. His funeral is at the end of the week. Did you want to go?"

"Thanks, and no. I already said my goodbye." She turned to look out the window and stare off into the distance, still holding Bobby's hand.

The town looked the same. The stores were opened with tourists bustling around gearing up for hikes or camping adventures. She caught the faces of many of the townspeople as the car rumbled through downtown. They're eyes showed their joy to see she was alive and well, but just beyond the depths of their relief lay the sadness of losing one of their own, and the fear of what they had experienced, not sure if it were real or just a bad collective dream.

As they pulled up to the cabin, she realized she'd been holding her breath, so she finally exhaled. It was a relief for her to be somewhere familiar, somewhere she could almost call home. The memory of her mother's arms passed over her, sending chills down her arms.

"You okay?" Dean walked around her heading for the kitchen.

"Yeah." She didn't elaborate on what she was truly feeling. "I'm going to take a shower." She left the men to do whatever it was they wanted or needed to do and went to her room.

Sam found Dean sitting on the back deck, drinking a beer. It was rather early in the day for beer, but Sam didn't bring it up. He sat on a deck chair next to his brother, sighing deeply.

"What?" Dean asked knowing Sam had something on his mind.

"You need to talk to her." He began. "As a matter of fact, you haven't talked at all since we left her at the hospital, Dean."

"What am I supposed to say?" He took a long drink of the beer. "And I did talk to her some."

"What did she say?" He leaned his elbows on his knees waiting for his brother's answer.

"She said she chose to come back to us, because we're her family now." Dean didn't like talking about himself, so he spoke about her instead.

"Yeah, I guess I can see how we have become kind of like a family. I mean Bobby's been there for us whenever we needed him. He practically raised Alyssa. And I've gotten kind of used to having her around." Sam smiled, and then remembered the events of the past weeks; the brief moment of happiness faded.

"I know. Me too. And that's the problem." He polished off the beer, setting the bottle on the deck next to him.

Sam waited patiently for Dean to continue his part of this conversation. It wasn't often his older brother would open up to him, so he let him go at his own pace.

"The demon's still out there, Sam. We have no idea where he is or what he's planning next." He was trying to get his brother to see his point of view without actually having to say it, but it didn't look as though his roundabout way of talking was getting through.

"This doesn't have anything to do with the demon, Dean. And you know it."

"Some of it does. I mean how are we supposed to protect her? Can we protect her? If she can kill the demon, she should be out there fighting with us. But now, she's…pr…pre," he stammered with the word.

"Pregnant." Sam helped him.

"Yeah. What does that mean for everything?"

"Guess I should answer that," she walked out on the deck, rubbing a towel through her wet hair. She sat on the last empty deck chair, rolling the towel around her hands. "I think the first thing I should confess is that I'm no longer what I was."

"What does that mean?" Dean inhaled the scent of her shampoo as she'd passed him.

"It means I don't have…I can't kill the demon. It's just me, now."

"How? When?" Sam could see the hope of ending this battle with the demon slowly fading away.

"I'm no longer the last of my family. And with that, comes a price."

"You can still," Dean pointed to his head, "and have visions, right?"

"I don't know. They were my birth-given gifts, so I'm pretty sure I still have them. Won't know until I try to use them."

"But everything else is gone?" Sam was surprisingly relieved as well to hear she had lost her powers. Truthfully, her power and his uncontrollable desire for it had scared the crap out of him.

"Yeah." She felt worthless, useless, and no longer able to hold her own on the field of battle.

"Great. So you're knocked up and powerless." Dean rubbed his palm down his face.

Alyssa threw the towel at Dean, hitting him in the face.

"OW!!" he pushed the towel away from him.

She stormed inside, blazing a trail past Bobby, not hearing him calling her name. The slamming of her bedroom door sent a shudder through the cabin.

"Nice job, Dean."

"She hit me in the eye!!" he was rubbing the right side of his face.

"You should feel lucky it was just a towel."

"What the hell was that all about?" Bobby came out onto the back deck, pointing back at the direction Alyssa had gone.

"Dean's knack for choosing just the right words to say." Sam looked to his brother, tilting his head in disgust.

"It's my fault, again." Dean blinked the blurry vision from his injured right eye.

"I'll go talk to her." Sam left the deck, feeling the burden of fixing what his brother had broken, once again.

"I swear, Dean, I'm going to kick your ass." Bobby sat in Sam's vacant spot.

"Why's it always my fault? She hit me with the towel." Dean avoided the older man's heated gaze.

"You always think of you, don't you? How this affects you? How this plays into your world?"

"I hadn't planned on having kids, Bobby. I wouldn't do that to them." Dean threw Alyssa's towel on the empty deck chair.

"Do what? Bring a kid into the world knowing what we know?"

"Yeah." Dean wanted to say how much he envied other kids being able to play with their friends, go to the same school with them for years, have a steady girlfriend, and live a normal life, but the words stalled in his throat. "No one should grow up the way we did," was what he said instead.

"So, then who are you mad at?" Bobby understood Dean's point of view, for he had seen the damage growing up a hunter's kid had done to the Winchester brothers.

"I don't know!" he yelled, not sure where the anger had come from, but just feeling it rolling through his stomach and raging through his mind.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Alyssa stared at herself in the mirror above the vanity. She was berating herself in her head, the tears rolling down her face, and emptying into the sink below her.

_I chose to come back for this! I gave up everything for this! He doesn't even care about what I gave up to come back. Maybe we would have been better off just going with Mom; _she silently spoke to her unborn son. Her heart was shattering as she pummeled herself with her own words.

"Alyssa?" Sam's gentle voice cut off her self-inflicted attack.

She straightened herself, wiping the tears from her face. 'Figures,' she thought, 'he didn't have the guts to face me himself.'

"I knocked, but you didn't hear me. Hey, are you okay?" Sam saw the anguish in the mirror's reflection. She'd been crying.

"Here to do damage control for him, again, huh?"

"I'm not here on his behalf. Not this time. I'm worried about you." He sat on the bed, watching her lock the emotions away, just the way Dean had done so many times.

"Well, I'm fine." The lie fell across her lips so easily.

"You're talking to someone who can lie with the best of them, Alyssa. No, you're not fine."

"Look. I get you care. I appreciate it. I really do. But this isn't your problem."

"That's my nephew you're carrying. It's most definitely my problem." He wasn't giving up on her. She may be able to keep her emotions hidden, but she was still a woman, and he knew women needed to talk, no matter how tough they thought they were.

"Funny how you're the only one who even claims him as anything." She sat on the bed next to him, knowing he was the only person she could truly share it all with, but it wasn't going to be easy to tell him everything.

"How did you lose the power?" Sam asked.

"I gave it up. I had choices. First choice was easy: live or die." She twirled her hair in her fingers.

"What other choices were there?"

"Come back with everything, be able to kill the demon."

"But…"

"I would have to give up the baby. I would have lost him." The thought of her becoming a mother still hadn't soaked into her mind. It was still a shock to hear herself say the word baby.

"And because you chose to live and keep the baby, you lost the abilities you had?"

"Not all, just the really cool ones." She cracked a smile at him. "But without those powers, Sam, you're safe. I promised Dean I would do everything in my power to protect you, and if it meant costing me that very thing, then I would do it again. I don't regret the choice I made."

The haunted look of a soul in pain crossed her face. Sam knew that look far too well. He'd seen it on his own face so many times, and on occasion it had flashed across Dean's.

"But Dean's not making it easy to live with that choice, is he?"

"Your brother doesn't make anything easy. It's just his nature."

Sam chuckled at her comment about Dean. He couldn't argue with her there.

"He's in shock, confused, angry, and a multitude of other emotions. I know, because I feel them myself," she continued.

"We're all kind of in shock, Alyssa. Dean's a good guy. I guess he feels that this wasn't a part of his life plan. Not that we actually have a life plan. This job doesn't exactly allow us to plan for any kind of future."

"Don't I know it. This wasn't exactly on my list of future endeavors either. I'm just happy when I see the sunrise and sunset each day."

"Me, too. Give him time to get used to the idea. He could surprise you." Sam knew his brother always did the right thing, even if it seemed it wasn't the best thing to do, but he knew his heart was always in the right place.

"And what? Ask me to marry him, settle down, buy a house, and get a dog? No thanks. And anyway, he's going to have plenty of time, Sam."

"Why do I feel there's more to come?" He narrowed his eyes at her waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I don't know if the demon's going to come after me for having crashed his party. So, I think it's best for me to disappear for a while."

Dean had been listening to the conversation from his position next to the door. He'd come up here to talk to her about the very thing Sam had been discussing with her. His brother had already told her everything he had wanted to say. It was weird knowing someone knew him that well, but after all, this was Sam, Mr. Tuned-In-To-Everyone's-Emotions, and he knew what he was feeling even before he knew it sometimes.

The idea of her leaving bothered him, more than he initially thought it would. Like Sam had said, they'd gotten used to having her around. If she left, there would kind of be a hole in the day, something only she could fill.

Alyssa thumbed in the direction of the door and silently mouthed Dean's name.

Sam figured out she was telling him Dean was listening to their conversation.

"Well," he played along, "you do what you think is right, Alyssa. If you need to leave to protect you, the baby, and us, then that's what you have to do. I'm going to go downstairs and see to getting things packed up."

"Thanks for the talk, Sam. I really needed it." She watched him walk out of the room, knowing he'd come face-to-face with Dean.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Sam whispered to his brother as he came around the doorjamb, his brow drawn into a scowl.

He looked at himself and gave his brother a 'what do you think' look.

"If you're going in there, don't screw it up." Sam ordered his older brother. "Don't say anything stupid."

Dean's mouth tried to form a comeback, but he failed because he knew his brother was right. He said stupid things all the time.

He knocked on the doorjamb. "Hey. Can I come in?" She had pulled out her leather bag setting it on the bed.

"It's your room, too." She grinned. Her supply of clean clothes had dwindled, so she'd have to do a load of laundry before she left.

"Right." Dean tentatively entered the room, unsure of what to say next. After all, Sam had said pretty much everything. "So, you're taking off?"

"Yeah," she stated emotionless. She would not let him know just how much it was truly breaking her heart to leave the only family she had left in the world.

"You think that's a good idea?" he sat on the bed while she rummaged through her leather bag.

"Better than sitting around here waiting for the demon to make another appearance. If he's looking for revenge, at least you two can find a way to stop him." She hoped he wouldn't argue the point and end the conversation.

"While your running around keeping him distracted?"

"I guess that's the idea, yeah."

"And?" He knew there was more.

"And what?"

"You're not just leaving because of the demon. So spill it."

She shook her head slightly. "You sure you want to know? It could get emotional. Think you could handle it?"

He thought for a second, "Yeah."

"There are two good reasons other than the demon for me to leave. One: if I stick around, I become a distraction. Instead of keeping yourselves and each other safe, everyone's going to be worried about keeping me safe. I'm not going to let that happen. And two: the way you look at me now is different, and it hurts. I'm a constant reminder of what is to come. So out of sight, out of mind, right?"

He started to debate her thinking, but she cut him off with a finger to his lips.

"Don't. Chivalry doesn't become you. I know you're freaked out about the baby, Dean. I am too. I choose to leave so it's easier on both of us."

"Easier? Knowing you're out there alone, dealing with this, the demon on your trail, and hunting." His eyes widened. "You're not going to keep hunting are you?"

"Now the concern? Yes, Dean. I still plan on hunting, until I know it is better not to."

Dean stood up to face her, an argument brewing in his head, making its way into words, but he stopped himself this time. He had no right to order her around. She was just as good a hunter as he and Sam, and she knew how to take care of herself. Instead of debating her choices, he opted to smooth things over.

"Alyssa, I'm…." he stammered, "I mean, what I said out there, I…."

She stared into his eyes, trying to retain her senses, "Apology accepted." She wrenched her gaze from his and continued with her laundry detail. She was hoping he would leave soon; the floodgates holding back her emotions were threatening to fail.

He had nothing else to say, as he could think of nothing to change her mind, because in a sense, she was right. If the Yellow-Eyed Demon was looking for revenge, she'd need to stay hidden until they could find him and kill him.

Dean pulled her to him, kissing her gently, and feeling her respond. The taste of her tears forced him to end the moment for fear of his own emotions escaping. He left her in the room to pull herself together and before she could see the lone tear fall from his lashes.

She knew he'd never be hers, completely. They had shared some spectacular nights, shared their anger and fears, and they knew more about each other now than they had ever known before.

The past was in the past now. They were different people than they were a decade ago. Life, their lives as hunters, had changed them.

They now shared a child, but again, their lives made it impossible for them to be a normal family. She would do her best to stay safe, stay alive, and maybe, just maybe, he'd find her again.

Bobby and Sam had loaded the Impala and made sure Alyssa's Camaro was well stocked with what she would need for her journey.

Favors had been called in to get Alyssa as far away as possible with no one, not even Bobby, knowing where she was going. The less they knew about where she was going, the safer everyone would be until the Yellow-Eyed Demon was dealt with.

Sam hugged her goodbye, answering her whisper that he wasn't to be blamed for anything with a whisper of a thank you. She planted a kiss on his cheek and left him standing there, close to tears.

Bobby wasn't shy about his feelings for her. She'd grown up to be an awesome woman, someone he'd be proud to call his daughter. Even though he'd adopted her and gave her his last name, she was more blood now than ever. He was going to miss her terribly, but he knew this was for the best, and if everything turned out as they hoped, he'd see her again soon.

He reluctantly broke the bear hug letting her go, once again. "You take good care of yourself, and my grandson," he tried to smile through his tears.

"I will. I promise." Her heart nearly swelled into her throat, hearing his words and seeing him crying for her.

Dean stood alone by the door of her Camaro. He opened it for her as she approached him, cracking a smile. She knew he wasn't the showing-emotions type, so she started for the open car door.

"What? No hug for me?" he opened his arms with a joking look in his eyes and the best-faked smile she'd ever seen on him.

"I'll see you soon, Dean. I know I will, when this is all over." She whispered in his ear.

"Count on it." He whispered back, letting her go and closing the car door on her.

The rock music blared as she drove the car down the winding drive towards town. The three men secured the cabin and locked it up for another season. Bobby would hold the keys, just in case they needed somewhere to hide out or required another "vacation".

Dean was waiting in the car for Sam and Bobby, suddenly feeling the emptiness she had filled just weeks ago. He chose a classic rock tape to listen to for the drive back to South Dakota.

They needed to get Bobby back to the yard and then get onto the Yellow-Eyed Demon's trail. Perhaps a stop at the Roadhouse was in order. Maybe Ash had found something, or Ellen had another job for them. He wanted to do something to keep thoughts of her from dominating his mind.

"Ready?" Sam spoke from his place in the passenger seat.

"Yeah. You?" He asked of his little brother.

"Yeah, let's go." Sam knew Dean was hurting more than he would ever say. The walls were up again, and this time, it would take a major disaster to break through them.

Dean started the Impala, letting the rumble of the engine settle into his stomach, soothing his nerves, hearing it call him to the road. They pulled out of the drive, knowing Alyssa would be long gone by now, and headed north to South Dakota. A hunter's life was never easy and far from normal.

Plan A was a miserable failure. Alyssa had been the stronger opponent in this game, more so than he'd initially given her credit. She had not been alone in this battle, something he hadn't considered in his planning, but he would let her declare the victory for her side this time.

So now, it was on to Plan B. There were other contenders for the top spot, but he considered Sam his favored winner, and not because he knew how powerful he could become. There was a history between him and the Winchesters; something that went way back and procuring a Winchester for his side would be satisfying on so many levels.

But for now, he'd sit back and watch the show for his new plan was already in place, well on its way to completion. All that remained now was the big showdown, and his vision for the future would be realized.

His yellow eyes gleamed in the night as he bid Alyssa and the Winchesters a fond ado, for now.


End file.
